Qualifying Report - Five for Five

Nico Rosberg has now won the pole in the five straight race weekends as he edged his Mercedes teammate Lewis Hamilton in qualifying for the Brazilian Grand Prix.

The ambient temperature at the start of the session was 84 degrees Fahrenheit (29 degrees Centigrade) and the track temperature was 115 degrees Fahrenheit (46 degrees Centigrade).

The line-up for the weekend was: Mercedes - Lewis Hamilton and Nico Rosberg. Red Bull Renault - Daniel Ricciardo and Daniil Kvyat. Williams Mercedes - Felipe Massa and Valtteri Bottas. Ferrari - Sebastian Vettel and Kimi Raikkonen. McLaren Honda - Fernando Alonso and Jenson Button. Force India Mercedes - Nico Hulkenberg and Sergio Perez. Toro Rosso Renault - Max Verstappen and Carlos Sainz. Lotus Mercedes - Romain Grosjean and Pastor Maldonado. Marussia Ferrari - Will Stevens and Alexander Rossi. Sauber - Marcus Ericsson and Felipe Nasr.

QUALIFYING 1

Hulkenberg set the first time - 1:13.824. But Rosberg, on the soft tires, clocked a 1:11.746 only to have Hamilton top that with a 1:11.682.

With 8 minutes remaining in the session, McLaren radioed to Alonso to stop immediately. He parked at Turn 11.

With 4 minutes remaining in the session, the top six were Hamilton, Rosberg, Bottas, Raikkonen, Verstappen and Nasr. The Lotus drivers had not gone out initially, so they did just one run at the end of FP1.

Only the Mercedes drivers and Alonso did not go out in the final minutes.

The top 15 at the end of Q1 were: Hamilton, Rosberg, Raikkonen, Vettel, Hulkenberg, Ricciardo, Kvyat, Verstappen, Bottas, Massa, Grosjean, Nasr, Perez, Sainz and Ericsson.

The five drivers eliminated at the end of Q1 were: Maldonado, Button, Rossi, Stevens and Alonso.

QUALIFYING 2

Rosberg and Hamilton, on the soft tires, took to the track followed by Bottas. Hamilton clocked a 1:11.665 and Rosberg set a 1:12.213. Bottas turned a 1:12.661 for third place but got demoted by Hulkenberg.

Vettel, Raikkonen, Ricciardo and Grosjean did not go out for an initial run and saved everything for the final minutes. Vettel popped up to second and Raikkonen to fourth while Massa had a spin.

The top 10 at the end of Q2 were: Hamilton, Vettel, Rosberg, Raikkonen, Bottas, Hulkenberg, Kvyat, Verstappen, Ricciardo and Massa.

The five drivers eliminated at the end of Q2 were: Nasr, Sainz, Perez, Ericsson and Grosjean.

QUALIFYING 3

So now it was down to 10 drivers and 12 minutes of Q3. Rosberg set out first.

Rosberg clocked a 1:11.461, and then Hamilton crossed the line with a time of 1:11.549.

The order at the end of the first runs was: Rosberg, Hamilton, Vettel, Bottas, Raikkonen, Ricciardo, Massa, Hulkenberg, Kvyat and Verstappen.

With less than two minutes remaining the drivers started filtering out for their last runs. Rosberg turned a 1:11.282 to keep the pole as Hamilton did a 1:11.360.

So the top 10 ended up as: Rosberg, Hamilton, Vettel, Bottas, Raikkonen, Hulkenberg, Kvyat, Massa, Ricciardo and Verstappen.