Mercedes' Valtteri Bottas claimed his third career pole position, topping qualifying for the 2017 Brazilian Grand Prix with a new track record at Interlagos.
He pipped Ferrari's Sebastian Vettel by less than four hundredths of a second in Q3. Vettel's team mate Kimi Raikkonen will line up on the second row of the grid on Sunday alongside Max Verstappen in the Red Bull.
Lewis Hamilton sensationally spun out in Q1 before he could set a lap time, and will have to start from the back of the grid on Sunday.
Brazilian Grand Prix - Qualifying results
| Pos | Driver | Team | Q1 | Q2 | Q3 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Valtteri Bottas | Mercedes | 1:09.452s | 1:08.638s | 1:08.322s |
| 2 | Sebastian Vettel | Ferrari | 1:09.643s | 1:08.494s | 1:08.360s |
| 3 | Kimi Räikkönen | Ferrari | 1:09.405s | 1:09.116s | 1:08.538s |
| 4 | Max Verstappen | Red Bull | 1:09.820s | 1:09.050s | 1:08.925s |
| 5 | Daniel Ricciardo | Red Bull | 1:09.828s | 1:09.533s | 1:09.330s |
| 6 | Sergio Pérez | Force India | 1:10.145s | 1:09.760s | 1:09.598s |
| 7 | Fernando Alonso | McLaren | 1:10.172s | 1:09.593s | 1:09.617s |
| 8 | Nico Hülkenberg | Renault | 1:10.078s | 1:09.726s | 1:09.703s |
| 9 | Carlos Sainz | Renault | 1:10.227s | 1:09.768s | 1:09.805s |
| 10 | Felipe Massa | Williams | 1:09.789s | 1:09.612s | 1:09.841s |
| 11 | Esteban Ocon | Force India | 1:10.168s | 1:09.830s | |
| 12 | Romain Grosjean | Haas | 1:10.148s | 1:09.879s | |
| 13 | Stoffel Vandoorne | McLaren | 1:10.286s | 1:10.116s | |
| 14 | Kevin Magnussen | Haas | 1:10.521s | 1:10.154s | |
| 15 | Brendon Hartley | Toro Rosso | 1:10.625s | ||
| 16 | Pascal Wehrlein | Sauber | 1:10.678s | ||
| 17 | Pierre Gasly | Toro Rosso | 1:10.686s | ||
| 18 | Lance Stroll | Williams | 1:10.776s | ||
| 19 | Marcus Ericsson | Sauber | 1:10.875s | ||
| 20 | Lewis Hamilton | Mercedes |
Q1: Disaster for Hamilton!
The skies over the Autódromo José Carlos Pace were still dark and heavy as qualifying got underway, but the earlier rain had abated and the track was dry as Sauber's Pascal Wehrlein led the field out of pit lane.
Lewis Hamilton was among the first cars out, but the cool conditions immediately caught out the world champion elect. He lost the back end of his Mercedes going into turn 6 at high speed and went into the barriers with some considerable force. Initially there was silence on the team radio, until a shaken Hamilton responded to his engineer's calls to confirm that he was okay.
"It happened really quickly. It is what it is," Hamilton told reporters later. he promised to charge back into contention in tomorrow's race: "Overcoming challenges is what makes life meaningful."
Once the track went green again, Bottas picked up the baton from his team mate and set the initial benchmark time. This was quickly bettered by Ferrari's Kimi Raikkonen with a lap clocking in at 1:09.405s. Vettel slotted in behind the pair in third, both Ferraris on soft compound tyres while everyone else was straight onto supersofts.
A late flier by local hero Felipe Massa put the Williams into fourth place. Max Verstappen was fifth ahead of team mate Daniel Ricciardo despite complaining of engine issues on his Red Bull. Nico Hulkenberg's second run was strong enough to put the Renault into seventh ahead of Force India's Sergio Perez.
In the drop zone, Hamilton was joined on the sidelines by the two Saubers of Wehrlein and Marcus Ericsson, and by Lance Stroll whose Williams was struggling for pace after undergoing repairs following FP3. Pierre Gasly was also eliminated, but his Toro Rosso team mate Brendon Hartley squeaked through to the second round by five hundredths of a second.
Q2: Vettel pips Bottas
The start of the second round of qualifying coincided with reports of light drizzle falling over the circuit. It wasn't enough to significantly wet the track, but it played on the minds of the drivers as they got back to work.
Bottas immediately laid down the gauntlet with a time of 1:08.901s, beating the previous track record set by Hamilton on Friday. Vettel slotted into second a tenth behind. He was followed by Raikkonen, Verstappen and Ricciardo, the only driver still on the soft tyres. Massa was once again looking on form on home ground, in sixth place ahead of Fernando Alonso and Sergio Perez.
Massa was the only driver not to return for another run. Vettel was able to make the most of his second run, going top with 1:08.494s. Bottas improved his own time but was still 0.144s behind the Ferrari. Verstappen moved up to third ahead of Raikkonen, with Ricciardo ahead of Alonso, Massa, Hulkenberg, Perez and Renault's Carlos Sainz.
Eliminated at the end of the session were Esteban Ocon, Romain Grosjean, Stoffel Vandoorne and Kevin Magnussen. Also out was Brendon Hartley, who spend Q2 working on practice starts meaning he did not record a representative time.
Q3: Bottas boots Vettel off provisional pole
Bottas was the first man on the timing screens at the start of the third and final round of qualifying. But once again, Vettel's first effort of 1:08.360s was enough to squeeze the Finn out of provisional pole by 0.082s.
Raikkonen took up position in third ahead of Verstappen, with Ricciardo fifth followed by Perez, Hulkenberg, Alonso and Sainz. Massa came out later than the others, but he stumbled over a cruising Sainz and had to abort his initial flying lap.
The earlier drizzle had stopped before the end of Q2 but now threatened to return as the drivers went out for their final runs. The track didn't seem to suffer from the moisture, and Bottas was able to punch in a new best time of 1:08.322s to pip Vettel to pole.
Alonso also managed a late improvement, moving him ahead of Hulkenberg for seventh place. In his second flying lap, Massa had to settle for tenth place in the Williams.
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