Tag Archives: Interlagos

2018 F1 Grand Prix of Brazil — Qualifying results

Hamilton takes pole with track record at Interlagos, Vettel keeps P2 after weigh-in contretemps; Bottas starts P3

Newly crowned 2018 F1 Champion Lewis Hamilton followed up his title-clinching but so-so P4 run in Mexico two weeks ago with a more Hamiltonian effort, setting a new lap record at Autodromo José Carlos Pace for pole in Saturday qualifying for tomorrow’s Brazilian Grand Prix. Showing that he is still driven to perform at the highest level even after seizing his remarkable fifth Drivers’ title, the English superstar once again got the better of his season-long pursuer Sebastian Vettel of Ferrari, laying down a hot lap of 1:07.281 for the best-ever time at Interlagos, albeit a mere .09 ahead his German rival. Once again it was Vettel looking up at Hamilton on the leaderboard, a depressing reality for both the man and the team. In truth, Vettel was lucky to retain his P2 starting position after some confusion at the weighbridge during a rain-threatened Q2 that saw Vettel hurrying the officials along in a desperate attempt to get to his pits for fresh rubber before the deluge screwed up his session. Vettel was accused of not shutting down his engine as required by the rules and “destroying the scales” by motoring away rather than being push started. Then again Hamilton also dodged the stewards’ wrath after dawdling in front of a fast-approaching Williams of Sergey Sirotkin in Q2, which very nearly led to a dangerous collision but for the lightening reflexes of the Russian rookie.

Hamilton’s Mercedes teammate Valtteri Bottas secured P3 on the grid and he will line up aside Vettel’s Scuderia stablemate Kimi Raikkonen, who had the fourth fastest qualifying time. Ferrari may have some extra strategic cards to play come race day, however, in a last ditch effort to hold off the Silver Arrows from capturing the Constructors’ title, at least for another week. Continue reading →

2017 F1 Grand Prix of Brazil — Results & aftermath

Vettel victorious in Brazil, Bottas P2; Raikkonen finishes third while Hamilton roars back from the rear for P4

Sebastian Vettel and Scuderia Ferrari got a measure of redemption in Brazil on Sunday after coming up short in their quest for the Drivers’ and Constructors’ Championships. In the penultimate race of the season Vettel made a blinding start from P2, slipping past Mercedes pole-sitter Valtteri Bottas on the inside of Turn 1 and quickly pulling out a gap. Even after a multi-car melee behind the leaders led to a first-lap Safety Car Vettel was able to re-establish his advantage after the restart and control the race from the front, showing that for this weekend at least his Prancing Horse had the legs on the Silver Arrows. It all lead to a seemingly easy victory for the German 4-time World Champion, although Vettel claimed he had to be picture perfect in the middle sector all race long to hold Bottas off. It was also a much needed morale boost for the legendary team from Maranello after their second half swoon, which was fueled equally by unforced errors by drivers and engineering and ultimately resulted in their disappointing runner-up status. The victory at Interlagos also helped solidify Vettel’s number two position in the Drivers’ competition with his lead over Bottas ballooning to a very nearly insurmountable 22 points.

Despite a terrific qualifying effort that snatched pole from Ferrari on Saturday, Bottas’ Mercedes could not match Vettel’s race pace. The Finn made one or two vague challenges but essentially lost it at the start and had to settle for a relatively disappointing if comfortable P2. Likewise Vettel’s stablemate Kimi Raikkonen could never quite catch up to Bottas but drove a solid race to finish P3. Meanwhile Bottas’ teammate, newly-crowned 2017 champion Lewis Hamilton, had an amazing race to finish just off the podium in P4. Starting from pit lane after he shockingly binned his Merc early in the first round of qualifying, the team was able to break parc firmé and make several changes to the Englishman’s F1 W08. As well as aero tweaks Mercedes also installed a new power unit, which probably would have required grid penalties in the next race, the season finale in Abu Dhabi. Instead, despite his profound positional disadvantage, Hamilton tore through the field like a man possessed, slicing through back markers like a hot knife through butter. On an uncharacteristically sunny day in Sao Paolo with no aide from rain-induced strategy calls, Hamilton simply mustered the will to make it happen all on his own. In the end it showed once again why Lewis Hamilton is one of the all-time great F1 talents and truly deserving of his four world titles. Though Hamilton’s Super Soft Pirelli tires gave up at the end after a monster stint and he could not quite overtake Raikkonen for a podium his astounding fourth place must have felt nearly like a victory.

Behind the top four, Red Bull’s Max Vertsappen faded somewhat after a strong start where it looked like the young Dutch phenom might make the post-race champagne celebration. But the limits of his Renault power plant seemed to show themselves over the long run as the greater horsepower of the Ferraris and Mercedes pushed them out of his grasp. Verstappen had to settle for a distant P5, while his teammate Daniel Ricciardo did well to fight back after a first-lap spin to claim P6. Williams’ Felipe Massa earned an emotional P7 in his final home Grand Prix to the delight of the masses of his countrymen in the stands. The veteran Brazilian exited Sao Paolo with a clean and classy drive after tearfully crashing out during his rain-soaked false alarm last year.

Fernando Alonso continued McLaren’s upward ascent with a strong P8. Although next year will be extremely intriguing and demanding for the Spaniard with his plans to run not only the 24-Hours of Daytona in January but also at least a partial campaign for Toyota in the Prototype class of the World Endurance Championship, the two-time F1 champion has got to be looking forward to the switch to Renault engines to power what is seemingly a very competitive chassis. Unfortunately for McLaren, however, their second driver Stoffel Vanfoorne crashed out on the opening lap after getting tagged by Haas’ Kevin Magnussen, who also had to retire. Sergio Perez brought his Force India home to a P9 finish after his teammate Esteban Ocon had his race-finishing streak snapped via a collision with Romain Grojean of Haas, also on the opening lap. Grosjean got a 10-second penalty for the accident but was able to complete the race, albeit out of the points in P15. Renault’s Nico Hulkenberg landed the last points-paying position in P10 just getting the better of his teammate Carlos Sainz, who finished P11.

Top 10 finishers of the Brazilian GP:

POS NO DRIVER CAR LAPS TIME/RETIRED PTS
1 5 Sebastian Vettel FERRARI 71 1:31:26.262 25
2 77 Valtteri Bottas MERCEDES 71 +2.762s 18
3 7 Kimi Räikkönen FERRARI 71 +4.600s 15
4 44 Lewis Hamilton MERCEDES 71 +5.468s 12
5 33 Max Verstappen RED BULL RACING TAG HEUER 71 +32.940s 10
6 3 Daniel Ricciardo RED BULL RACING TAG HEUER 71 +48.691s 8
7 19 Felipe Massa WILLIAMS MERCEDES 71 +68.882s 6
8 14 Fernando Alonso MCLAREN HONDA 71 +69.363s 4
9 11 Sergio Perez FORCE INDIA MERCEDES 71 +69.500s 2
10 27 Nico Hulkenberg RENAULT 70 +1 lap 1

Complete race results available via Formula1.com.

The next & final race is in two weeks time, the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix at the gorgeous day-into-night Yas Marina Circuit. Hope to see you then to find out how the season ends!

2017 F1 Grand Prix of Brazil — Qualifying results

Bottas snatches pole from Vettel while Hamilton crashes out in Q1 during unpredictable quali at Interlagos; Raikkonen P3

In a stunning qualifying session for the penultimate race of the 2017 campaign in Brazil on Saturday newly crowned World Champion Lewis Hamilton crashed out on his opening lap in Q1. The Mercedes ace lost it speeding into Turn 7 at Interlagos, bashing his Silver Arrow heavily into the barriers sideways. While the Englishman was unhurt his pride probably wasn’t by the unforced error just two weeks after he claimed his fourth F1 title in Mexico City. It only proved that it can happen to the best of drivers but it opened up the chase for pole to his only true rivals this season, his teammate Valtteri Bottas and Ferrari’s Sebastian Vettel. And while Vettel looked like the favorite after laying down a track record lap relatively early in Q3, Bottas showed his mettle by besting that seemingly supreme time even though a light drizzle was falling and the checkered flag was waving. The Finn lifted Mercedes’ pride across the line with him at the death with a remarkable 1:08.322, good enough to take the pole and break Ferrari’s hearts. Vettel will start beside Bottas in P2 and his teammate Kimi Raikkonen will be right behind the Mercedes in P3. Hamilton, on the other hand, will have to start towards the back of the grid and will have to battle his way to the front, although other drivers facing grid spot penalties may move him up a spot or two by the time Sunday rolls around. Right now, however, the current F1 champ is starting from a lonely and lowly P20 after his very uncharacteristic cock up. (In fact it has just been announced that Hamilton will start from pit lane tomorrow, as Mercedes have decided to make changes to the car after the crash.)

The two Red Bulls of Max Verstappen and Daniel Ricciardo qualified P4 and P5 respectively but that success was somewhat illusory for the team. Ricciardo is one of the drivers facing engine-change penalties, 10 spots in his case, and so the affable Aussie was pushed back to P15 on the grid. And though Verstappen was spared any such FIA demerits the young Dutchman, winner of the last Grand Prix in Mexico two weeks ago, was forced to retrofit old components onto his ailing Renault engine. Verstappen could be heard complaining about shifting issues during qualifying and can only hope that his bad luck, so frequent in the earlier part of the season, doesn’t return in the form of yet more mechanical failures costing him a race finish. Sergio Perez was the lone Force India to make it into Q3 and had the 6th fastest time, while McLaren’s Fernando Alonso continued the team’s late season upward trajectory by qualifying an impressive P7 at this very fast circuit. The yellow factory Renaults of Nico Hulkenberg and Carlos Sainz were back-to-back with the 8th and 9th fastest times respectively. And Felipe Massa set the 10th quickest lap in what should really be his final Brazilian GP after last year’s tearful false alarm. It looks like the fine Brazilian veteran, who has the 6th most starts in Formula 1 history, will actually hang it up for good after being drafted back into Williams when Bottas made the unexpected leap to Mercedes following Nico Rosberg’s surprise retirement at the end of 2016. We can only wish Massa, a classy and plucky competitor with 15 F1 campaigns to his credit, the very best at his final home race as he heads for the exits at season’s end after a superb career.

Top 10 qualifiers for the Brazilian Grand Prix:

POS NO DRIVER CAR Q1 Q2 Q3 LAPS
1 77 Valtteri Bottas MERCEDES 1:09.452 1:08.638 1:08.322 22
2 5 Sebastian Vettel FERRARI 1:09.643 1:08.494 1:08.360 21
3 7 Kimi Räikkönen FERRARI 1:09.405 1:09.116 1:08.538 18
4 33 Max Verstappen RED BULL RACING TAG HEUER 1:09.820 1:09.050 1:08.925 18
5 3 Daniel Ricciardo RED BULL RACING TAG HEUER 1:09.828 1:09.533 1:09.330 19
6 11 Sergio Perez FORCE INDIA MERCEDES 1:10.145 1:09.760 1:09.598 21
7 14 Fernando Alonso MCLAREN HONDA 1:10.172 1:09.593 1:09.617 17
8 27 Nico Hulkenberg RENAULT 1:10.078 1:09.726 1:09.703 21
9 55 Carlos Sainz RENAULT 1:10.227 1:09.768 1:09.805 17
10 19 Felipe Massa WILLIAMS MERCEDES 1:09.789 1:09.612 1:09.841 16

Complete qualifying results available via Formula1.com.

Tomorrow’s race airs live on NBC Sports starting at 11:00 AM Eastern here in the States. With wet weather always the wild card at Interlagos it could once again be the factor that shakes up the field and produces an unexpected result. Hope to see you then to find out how it all shakes out!

2016 F1 Grand Prix of Brazil — Results & aftermath

Rain plays havoc at Interlagos but Hamilton prevails, Rosberg hangs on for P2; Verstappen puts in wonder drive in the wet for stunning P3

A steady downpour enveloped Autodromo Carlos Pace on Sunday during the Brazilian Grand Prix. On a track better known as Interalgos, veritable rivers and lakes of standing water created havoc from the start to the end of the protracted contest, the penultimate of the year, causing numerous crashes, Safety Car periods and two prolonged Red Flag stoppages. In the end, with the championship one greasy moment away from being decided by an unfortunate incident, both key contenders managed to keep it on the black stuff and finish in their best possible positions. Mercedes teammates Lewis Hamilton and Nico Rosberg crossed the line 1-2 on this treacherous day, with Hamilton securing the victory he needed to keep his championship dream going into the last race at Abu Dhabi and Rosberg holding on for second to limit the damage. With Hamilton starting from pole and front-running out of the blinding spray for nearly the entire race, Rosberg did well to secure P2. The German looked much less assured than Hamilton for the entirety of the race, seeming to tiptoe around at times. But description proved to be the better part of valor because the Championship is still Rosberg’s to lose and while he might have tried to take risks and gone for the win that would have clinched his first-ever title this was simply not the day for it in rainy Sao Paolo, as car after car spun off and out of the GP. So Roseberg did what he had to do to limit Hamilton’s gains, with the Englishman’s gritty and poised performance good enough for the victory, his third on the trot, and pulling him within 12 points of his archrival Rosberg with all to play for in the final contest. As it is, Rosberg must only finish 3rd or higher in Abu Dhabi to claim his prize in two weeks and vanquish his tormentor. Game on.

Pics courtesy GrandPrix247.com

Pics courtesy GrandPrix247.com

The results might not have been as kind for Rosberg had Red Bull not made the inexplicable decision to pit for Intermediate wet tires for their young phenom, Max Verstappen, on Lap 41 with the rain still bucketing down and a lousy forecast looming. When Williams’ Felipe Massa lost it and crashed out shortly thereafter on Lap 47 and with conditions not improving, Verstappen and his team made the decision to go back to Full Wet tires during the ensuing Safety Car period. This extra change cost the Dutchman valuable track position and shuffled him back to P14 upon the restart. But with the freshest deep-groove rubber in the race and less than 20 laps remaining in the 71-lap contest, Verstappen began a remarkable surge through the field, picking off first his teammate Daniel Ricciardo and then a fleet of other competitors. Using unconventional lines reminiscent of karting, Verstappen passed far off the standard racing line, counterintuitively seeking out the parts of the track where rubber had not been laid down that were actually less slippery in the rain. As the laps wound down, Verstappen made short work of Daniil Kvyat, Estaban Ocon, Felipe Nasr and Nico Hulkenberg. On Lap 67 he confronted Ferrari’s Sebastian Vettel, who tried to defend but was still no match for the hard-charging Red Bull. With the teenage wunderkind executing a power move up the inside to take P4, Vettel was forced wide onto the rumble strips and was left to sputter and gripe on the radio about the unfairness of it all, as the former 4-time World Champ has so often done this disappointing season. On Lap 70, Verstappen completed his amazing ascension to the podium seizing P3 from Force India’s Sergio Perez by holding the inside line over a series of corners until the talented Mexican had to yield. In the end it was a remarkable performance in the trickiest of conditions and validated once again why Verstappen is held in such high regard for his pure driving skills, which are sure to get even better as the 19-year-old matures and gains more experience. One wonders where he might have finished had Red Bull not made that dubious extra tire stop — would he have had something for Rosberg and maybe even Hamilton at the end? But then perhaps we would not have all been treated to one of the great drives in F1 history.

raikkonen-brazil_2016

Perez still did very well to come home P4, while his Force India teammate Nico Hulkenberg finished P7 despite an ill-timed post-Safety Car puncture. Continue reading →

2016 F1 Grand Prix of Brazil — Qualifying results

Hamilton takes 60th career pole at Interlagos, Rosberg P2; Raikkonen nabs P3 at the death for Ferrari

Mercedes’ ace Lewis Hamilton blistered the short and tricky Autódromo José Caros Pace circuit in Sao Paolo, Brazil on Saturday en route to a dominant lap good enough for pole position in Sunday’s race. Desperate to keep his championship aspirations alive on a track that has been far from kind to him, Hamilton nonetheless prevailed in slightly damp conditions, beating out his teammate and current points leader, Nico Rosberg, by .10 seconds. It was Hamilton’s 60th career pole and pulled him within 5 of his hero Ayrton Senna for second on the all-time list. More importantly, with only two races remaining it gave the Englishman his best shot at holding off Rosberg in Sunday’s Grand Prix, where the German can clinch his first World Championship with a victory no matter where Hamilton might finish. Even starting from P2 Rosberg’s chances seem decent to pull that off but Hamilton did what he had to do to hopefully start fast, keep Rosberg behind and live to fight it out at the last race in Abu Dhabi.

Ferrari’s Kimi Raikkonen had a nice burst on his very last lap in Q3 to vault himself into P3 on the starting grid, relegating Red Bull’s Max Verstappen to P4 with that excellent effort. Raikkonen’s teammate Sebastian Vettel did well to qualify in P5 after his car had hydraulic issues that almost cost him a chance to get onto the track at all, so big kudos to his Ferrari mechanics for getting it resolved in time. Verstappen’s teammate Daniel Ricciardo ended up behind Vettel in P6 and it should be very interesting to see how those rows 2 and 3, split as they are between Ferrari and Red Bull, get off the line and interact when the lights go out. Haas’ Romain Grosjean had a superb effort with a time good enough for P7, the eye-opening first year American team’s best ever quali rank. Force India ended up with Nico Hulkenberg in P8 and Sergio Perez P9 but scored an extra bonus of sorts when neither of the Williams could break into Q3, despite the crowd’s partisan urgings for their retiring countryman Felipe Massa at his last Brazilian GP. That kept tiny Force India’s chances of beating out storied Williams F1 for a very lucrative fourth place in the Constructors’ Championship looking good. Fernando Alonso rounded out the Top 10 starters on Sunday with a time good enough for P10 in his McLaren.

Top 10 Qualifiers for the Brazilian Grand Prix:

POS NO DRIVER CAR Q1 Q2 Q3 LAPS
1 44 Lewis Hamilton MERCEDES 1:11.511 1:11.238 1:10.736 12
2 6 Nico Rosberg MERCEDES 1:11.815 1:11.373 1:10.838 12
3 7 Kimi Räikkönen FERRARI 1:12.100 1:12.301 1:11.404 15
4 33 Max Verstappen RED BULL RACING TAG HEUER 1:11.957 1:11.834 1:11.485 12
5 5 Sebastian Vettel FERRARI 1:12.159 1:12.010 1:11.495 13
6 3 Daniel Ricciardo RED BULL RACING TAG HEUER 1:12.409 1:12.047 1:11.540 12
7 8 Romain Grosjean HAAS FERRARI 1:12.893 1:12.343 1:11.937 18
8 27 Nico Hulkenberg FORCE INDIA MERCEDES 1:12.428 1:12.360 1:12.104 20
9 11 Sergio Perez FORCE INDIA MERCEDES 1:12.684 1:12.331 1:12.165 21
10 14 Fernando Alonso MCLAREN HONDA 1:12.700 1:12.312 1:12.266 17

Complete qualifying results available via Formula1.com.

Tomorrow’s race airs live at 11AM Eastern on NBC Sports Network here in the States. The penultimate contest in a fast and furious 2016 campaign, Turn 1 on the opening lap could mean everything to the two Mercedes contenders, as contact is common there. Hope to see you then to find out how it all shakes out!

2015 F1 Grand Prix of Brazil — Results & aftermath

Rosberg makes it two in a row with win in Brazil, Hamilton P2; Vettel earns a familiar P3 for improving Ferrari

Images courtesy GrandPrix247.com

Images courtesy GrandPrix247.com

With the Drivers’ Championship eluding his grasp for the second year in a row, Nico Rosberg’s only remaining mission is to finish out the season with as many race wins as possible in order to gain momentum for another title chase in 2016. With his victory this weekend in the penultimate race at Interlagos in Sao Paolo, Brazil, the German Mercedes driver and Championship runner-up is doing just that. Playing out very much like his win two weeks ago in Mexico, Rosberg started the race from pole and prevented his World Champion teammate and chief tormentor Lewis Hamilton from making a first corner overtaking move. From there, with both Mercedes running the identical race strategy, Hamilton was never able to pass Rosberg on the tight track and Rosberg sailed away to a relatively easy win. One could say that Hamilton no longer has the same manic drive that he displayed prior to clinching his second consecutive title in Austin three races ago. His antics out of his F1 ride would seem to indicate that, as well, with an inexplicable 3 AM collision with parked cars in Monaco last week. And one might also infer that Mercedes is actively trying to boost Rosberg’s fragile confidence after his remarkable unforced error at COTA gifted Hamilton the win and doomed his championship dreams. With Mercedes’ unwillingness to split their race strategy despite Hamilton’s pleas, deciding they would rather cover Ferrari’s 3-stop decision rather than risk Vettel sneaking ahead of one of their men, it might seem as if the team were putting their thumb on the scales in favor of Rosberg. But in truth, Rosberg was quicker these last two Grand Prix and Hamilton has lifted ever so slightly, which is only natural when you’ve got nothing left to prove. And it must feel good for the German to stand on the top step again in back-to-back races even if the bigger contest has been lost. Having finally secured his second place in the Championship over a game Sebastian Vettel with this win, Rosberg will surely be looking to finish out the season with a hat trick in Abu Dhabi in two weeks time, if only to convince himself that he can mount a credible challenge to Hamilton’a dominance come next season.

Ferrari showed the continuing improvement of their F15-T chassis, especially at high downforce circuits like the short, slippery Autódromo José Carlos Pace. Vettel once again was the best of the non-Silver Arrows, re-taking his very familiar P3 after an uncharacteristically poor effort in Mexico. Teammate Kimi Raikkonen managed to avoid any incidents on track with his fellow Finn and new nemesis, Valtteri Bottas, and was able to play the loyal tail gunner to Vettel by coming home a solid P4. Williams’ Bottas, who had clashed with Raikonnen in Mexico for a second time after their tangle in Russia, also managed to keep it clean and bring his car home in P5. That earned enough championship points to secure third in the Constructors’ Championship for Williams Martini Racing, a very impressive result even if their chassis was well short of downforce all season long. Bottas’ teammate Felipe Massa had an awful day, however. After a mediocre qualifying effort saw him starting from eighth on the grid, the native Brazilian finished exactly there but then had his results disqualified due to excessive tire temperatures at the start. All in all, a weekend to forget for the veteran at his home Grand Prix.

Force India’s Nico Hulkenberg had a great race, on the other hand, out-dueling Red Bull’s Daniil Kvyat for 6th place. The talented German has now made it two strong finishes in a row, outscoring teammate Sergio Perez both times and rebounding from bit of a let down after his epic 24 Hours of Le Mans win for Porsche this past summer. Kvyat’s P7 was well ahead of his teammate Daniel Ricciardo, however, although the Russian was running the older spec Renault engine while the Aussie was saddled with an “upgraded” version, which forced Ricciardo to start from the back after penalties for that change. The team rolled the dice with an early pit stop for a tire change to the harder compound but it didn’t really work out, especially as the new engine was not actually that powerful, and Ricciardo finished out of the points in P11. Rounding out the top 10, Romain Grosjean had a strong run for Lotus with a P9 (promoted to 8th after Massa’s penalty), Toro Rosso wunderkind Max Verstappen aggressive as usual for a P10 (promoted to P9) and Lotus’ Pastor Maldonado lucky to get the last championship point with a promotion to 10th despite a time penalty for a collision with Sauber’s Marcus Ericsson.

Top 10 finishers in Brazil:

POS. DRIVER COUNTRY TEAM TIME POINTS
1 NICO ROSBERG GER MERCEDES 1:31:09.090 25
2 LEWIS HAMILTON GBR MERCEDES +7.756s 18
3 SEBASTIAN VETTEL GER FERRARI +14.244s 15
4 KIMI RÄIKKÖNEN FIN FERRARI +47.543s 12
5 VALTTERI  BOTTAS FIN WILLIAMS +1 lap 10
6 NICO HULKENBERG GER FORCE INDIA +1 lap 8
7 DANIIL KVYAT RUS RED BULL RACING +1 lap 6
EX FELIPE MASSA BRA WILLIAMS +1 lap 0
8 ROMAIN GROSJEAN FRA LOTUS +1 lap 4
9 MAX VERSTAPPEN NED TORO ROSSO +1 lap 2
10 PASTOR MALDONADO VEN LOTUS +1 lap 1

Complete race results available via Formula1.com.

Th final race is two weeks from now, the beautiful day-into-night contest at the Yas Marina circuit in Abu Dhabi. We’ll see if Rosberg’s can continue his momentum or if Hamilton can get his mojo back in the season finale. Hope to see you then!

2015 F1 Grand Prix of Brazil — Qualifying results

Rosberg earns 5th Pole in a row in Brazil, Hamilton 2nd fastest after bizarre week; Vettel P3 for Ferrari in Qualifying

With only two races left on the 2015 F1 calendar and the major championships locked up there are nevertheless still honors to be earned. And despite losing out on the Drivers’ title to his Mercedes teammate for the second year in a row, Nico Rosberg showed that he is still determined to both maintain his second spot overall in the points and finish the season on a strong and positive note. Rosberg earned his fifth pole position in a row on the tricky Interlagos track in Sao Paolo, Brazil, again outpacing his championship teammate Lewis Hamilton in Saturday Qualifying. And while his qualifying has not often enough resulted in equally good results come race day, Rosberg at least has victory in Mexico two weeks ago to help his fragile confidence in dueling with Hamilton for the win come Sunday. To be honest, it seems a bit as if Hamilton has taken his foot ever so slightly off the gas since clinching the title in Austin, an assumption given some credence by his bizarre 3 AM crash in Monaco last Tuesday where he inexplicably hit three parked cars with his Pagoni Zonda. Hamilton, who was said to be suffering from the flu as well as exhaustion at the time, tested negative for alcohol. For certain the British champ will be looking to put that strange and embarrassing incident behind him by getting back to the regular business of breaking his German teammate’s heart when the lights go out, something he had been doing with regularity until recently.

Coming in third fastest on the slippery circuit was Sebastian Vettel’s Ferrari, with his teammate Kimi Raikkonen able to jump up to P5 with a solid last lap effort in Q3. Williams’ Vatteri Bottas was an impressive P4 but faces a 3-spot grid penalty for passing under a Red Flag in Friday’s practice session #2. Force India’s Nico Hulkenberg, who once scored a pole at Interlagos, continued to show signs of a rebound from his post-Le Mans slump after a good finish in Mexico a fortnight ago. Hulkenberg qualified P6 but his teammate Sergio Perez got bounced in Q2 and could do no better than P13 (though when all penalties are factored in he will start from P11 on the grid). Rounding out the top 10 qualifiers, Red Bull’s Daniil Kvyat and Daniel Ricciardo were P7 and P9 respectively, while native Brazilian Felipe Massa was P8 for Williams and wunderkind Max Verstappen was P10 for Toro Rosso.

Top 10 qualifiers for tomorrow’s Brazilian Grand Prix:

POS. NO. DRIVER TEAM Q1 Q2 Q3 LAPS
1 6 NICO ROSBERG  MERCEDES 1:11.746 1:12.213 1:11.282 12
2 44 LEWIS HAMILTON  MERCEDES 1:11.682 1:11.665 1:11.360 12
3 5 SEBASTIAN VETTEL  FERRARI 1:12.240 1:11.928 1:11.804 16
4 77 VALTTERI  BOTTAS  WILLIAMS 1:12.934 1:12.374 1:12.085 18
5 7 KIMI RÄIKKÖNEN  FERRARI 1:12.185 1:12.243 1:12.144 16
6 27 NICO HULKENBERG  FORCE INDIA 1:12.595 1:12.485 1:12.265 18
7 26 DANIIL KVYAT  RED BULL RACING 1:12.730 1:12.527 1:12.322 20
8 19 FELIPE MASSA  WILLIAMS 1:12.980 1:12.858 1:12.415 21
9 3 DANIEL RICCIARDO  RED BULL RACING 1:12.639 1:12.825 1:12.417 17
10 33 MAX VERSTAPPEN  TORO ROSSO 1:12.824 1:12.712 1:12.739 15

Complete qualifying results available via Formula1.com.

Tomorrow’s race airs live here in the States at 11:00 AM Eastern on NBC Sports Network. This is your second-to-last chance to catch Formula 1 action this year so hope to see you then!