Lewis Hamilton heads a McLaren front-row lock-out at the Brazilian GP

Hamilton on top as Alonso once again struggles

Lewis Hamilton has kept McLaren on top at the Brazilian Grand Prix, as the Briton stormed to his 26th career pole. The Mercedes-bound driver will start tomorrow’s race alongside team-mate Jenson Button, with the second row consisting of Mark Webber and Sebastian Vettel. Fernando Alonso will start a distant 8th for Ferrari.

After a light rain shower prior to the start of Q1, the track was extremely greasy as the drivers took to the Interlagos circuit. Heikki Kovalainen once again became the first driver to take to the track, opting for dry weather tyres as he led out a procession of awaiting drivers. The track was exceedingly wet throughout the final two corners, as the drivers struggled for grip on the dry tyres. This saw the Marussia of Timo Glock almost collided with the Caterham of Heikki Kovalainen. The German set the initial pace, however the times quickly improved as the opening session wore on.

Kamui Kobayashi and Jean-Eric Vergne began trading fastest times at the top as the session continued, with the Frenchman eventually thwarting the Sauber’s time at the top. However, once the big boys emerged from the pits, the fastest time changed nearly every second as the likes of Pastor Maldonado, Bruno Senna, Lewis Hamilton, Fernando Alonso, Sergio Perez, Nico Rosberg and Paul di Resta each momentarily set the fastest time throughout the session.

Lewis Hamilton finally set a 01:16.147, as Romain Grosjean made slight contact with the HRT of Pedro de la Rosa during the final sweeping curve. The Frenchman lost his front wing in the ensuing collision, however the duo were extremely lucky that the incident was not heavier. As Grosjean limped back to the pits without a front wing, local hero Bruno Senna rose to the top with a 01:15.955. Lewis Hamilton once again returned to the top, as the battle between the bottom seven drivers intensified as the usual suspects strove to improve up the order.

Eventually the usual suspects of the two Caterhams, Marussias and HRTs were joined by a dispirited Romain Grosjean, who was unable to set a fast enough time after his misfortunate collision with the HRT of Pedro de la Rosa.

As Q2 got underway at the Interlagos circuit, the track conditions had basically returned to normal, as the Toro Rosso of Jean-Eric Vergne became the first to return to the track. After the unknown entity which was Q1, largely due to the slightly adverse track conditions, Q2 was a return to normality for the teams and drivers as Nico Hulkenberg set the initial pace with a 01:14.810. Fernando Alonso instantly thwarted the German’s advantage, as the Championship contender strove for a decent qualifying position after initially struggling throughout practice.

Lewis Hamilton then asserted his authority over proceedings, as the Briton set a 01:13.398, as McLaren once again showed their scintillating pace around the Interlagos circuit. However, Sebastian Vettel was close at hand and immediately raised the bar as he stormed across the line to set a 01:13.209 to go fastest. The Ferraris once again struggled towards the end of the session, as both Felipe Massa and Fernando Alonso only just managed to progress to the top ten shootout. Both Paul di Resta, Bruno Senna, Sergio Perez, Michael Schumacher, Kamui Kobayashi, Daniel Ricciardo and Jean-Eric Vergne were eliminated after Q2.

The all-important top ten shootout got underway as Nico Rosberg decided to become the first driver to take to the track. The Mercedes driver proceeded to set the initial pace around the Interlagos circuit, however his time was not entirely representative of the team’s true pace with a 01:22.398. Lewis Hamilton completely blitzed that time with a tremendously quick 01:12.850, as the majority of the field decided to pit for a fresh set of tyres for their final qualifying runs. Sebastian Vettel made a crucial error whilst negotiating the exit of Turn 4, and had only one lap to produce the goods for Red Bull.

As the final laps were set, first blood went to Mark Webber who set a 01:12.581, however Lewis Hamilton kept McLaren on top with an absolutely superlative 01:12.458. Jenson Button slotted into 2nd position to secure McLaren’s 62nd front-row lock-out, as Mark Webber qualified 3rd with Championship leader Sebastian Vettel 4th. Fernando Alonso could only manage a distant 8th, once again being out-qualified by team-mate Felipe Massa.

Despite the possibility of rain decreasing slightly for tomorrow’s 71-lap Brazilian Grand Prix, the prospect for another intense title showdown is on the cards as Sebastian Vettel and Fernando Alonso aim to thwart one another in what is still believed to be a wet season finale!

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