It's was more of the same for McLaren's Jenson Button with the British drivers' qualifying session following its usual lousy script.
Button was a Q1 casualty whose only consolation was beating team mate Fernando Alonso. The two men appeared fairly unfazed by their predictable ordeal, even mischievously sneaking on to the podium and posing as winners to remind themselves of what was once, or what eventually may be.
"Jumping on the podium was the most fun I've had this weekend," Button ironized.
"Actually the car was working much better in qualifying, and felt more enjoyable to drive. I was a lot closer to P15 than I thought. The important thing is that with the balance we have, the car should work well in the race."
As usual, McLaren would gladly welcome a change of the elements to help its chances on Sunday, although a downpour is not currently being forecasted.
"Anything would help us. The car isn't bad to drive, and if it rains it opens up many opportunities."
Extracting McLaren from the doldrums is pretty much a lost cause this year, but Button retains a great amount of faith of seeing a massive move forward in 2016.
"I'm feeling good about next year. With all the support I got this year, it's really meant a lot to me and it keeps us positive. There's so much that is going to change this winter, there really is, it'll be a massive step so I'm excited for that. But I also know there's a lot of hard work ahead."
REPORT: Rosberg takes fifth pole in a row by 0.078s
AS IT HAPPENED: Brazilian Grand Prix - qualifying
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