Interlagos, 24 November

Lewis Hamilton was fastest in qualifying for the Brazilian Grand Prix with a time of 1.12.458 and so the Englishman will start from pole and alongside him will be his fellow countryman and McLaren team-mate Jenson Button with a lap in 1.12.513. Rounding off the top three is Mark Webber (1.12.581) for Red Bull, while his team-mate Sebastian Vettel is fourth in 1.12.760.

The last qualifying of the season once again reflected the current pecking order with Felipe Massa fifth in 1.12.987 and Fernando Alonso eighth in 1.13.253. Splitting the two F2012s are Maldonaldo’s Williams and Hulkenberg in the Force India.

Light rain fell just thirty minutes before the 2pm start which made for a tense time as the final sector was still slightly damp. It was not enough to prevent the use of slick tyres and the two Ferrari men ran the same programme, doing one run on the Pirelli Hard compound in Q1, one on Hard and another on Medium in Q2 and two on Medium in Q3.

The weather is supposed to deteriorate tomorrow, with a high chance of rain during the race which starts at 14h00.