Vettel takes pole position in Brazalian Grand Prix

Sao Paulo: Sebastian Vettel took the pole position for Sunday's Brazilian Grand Prix as he clocked a best lap of one minute and 26.479 seconds to finish seven-tenths of a second clear of nearest rival Nico Rosberg of Mercedes.

He was more than a second clear of third-placed Fernando Alonso of Ferrari and his own team-mate, retirement bound Australian Mark Webber. Lewis Hamilton, the 2008 champion, was fifth in the second Mercedes ahead of Frenchman Romain Grosjean of Lotus, Daniel Ricciardo and his Toro Rosso team-mate Jean-Eric Vergne.

Vettel said after the qualifying race that it was a surprise to get that time today. “I was happy after Q3, it took a long time for us to get out as there was a lot of rain at the end of Q2. There was too much water on track, which is a shame for the people in the grandstands, but if there’s too much risk of aquaplaning, it’s better to wait. We then got out and I was surprised by how much the water had cleared. I went straight onto intermediates and was able to get a very good lap in straight away. I tried to beat that and got close, but it wasn’t enough. I was very happy to hear I got pole, I even mixed up Spanish and Portuguese on the radio! Hopefully we get a good chance tomorrow. We only had little practice in these conditions, but we still got the car where we wanted it, so I’m very happy,” said vettel.

Meanwhile Webber said, “We are where we deserved to be I think, as I didn’t feel that quick in qualifying. The car felt slow and I was struggling for grip. It was tricky for all of us, but we’re on the second row and we can still do something from there. It’s tricky to get it all together in those conditions, I wasn’t too comfortable in Q1 and Q2 on the intermediate tyres, but that’s the way it goes. There’s not much more to add really than it was tricky, it’s easier to be a lot further back in those conditions and we can still do something from fourth, so let’s see tomorrow.”