MOSCOW, November 24 (R-Sport) - Lewis Hamilton put in a blistering last lap to take pole position in the season-ending Brazilian Grand Prix on Saturday, a session that also saw Sebastian Vettel take a big stride toward retaining his F1 title.
Hamilton parts company with McLaren after 14 years with the team following Sunday's race at Interlagos, and the 27-year-old set up a perfect finale by leading a record fourth front-row lockout of the season, followed by Jenson Button.
The real winner of the session, however, was Vettel, who qualified in fourth, three places ahead of the only man who can deny him the title this season, Fernando Alonso.
"Q3 wasn't 100 percent perfect," said Vettel in televised remarks. "I did a mistake in turn four, I wasn't quick enough."
Vettel will take the title unless Alonso wins and the German finishes lower than fourth or there is a similar points gap with the two finishing further apart down the grid.
The Spaniard said the session went "more or less as expected" and will be hoping rain will turn the race into a wet one and disrupt Vettel's and McLaren's preparations.
"It's interesting race, we need a rain-affected race, let's hope we see something like that."
Vettel's teammate Mark Webber had led the timesheets with just Hamilton and Button to finish their laps in a dramatic final session, and was pipped into third.
Elsewhere, Mercedes' seven-time champion driver Michael Schumacher, taking part in the last race of his storied career, had a disappointing performance, qualifying in 14th.
And Caterham's Vitaly Petrov, who is hoping Russian Helicopters can stump up the sponsor money for him to retain his seat alongside new addition Charles Pic next season, was 19th quickest.
Qualifying results:
1. Lewis Hamilton (McLaren)
2. Jenson Button (McLaren)
3. Mark Webber (Red Bull)
4. Sebastian Vettel (Red Bull)
5. Felipe Massa (Ferrari)
6. Pastor Maldonado (Williams)
7. Nico Hulkenberg (Force India)
8. Fernando Alonso (Ferrari)
9. Kimi Raikkonen (Lotus)
10. Nico Rosberg (Mercedes)
11. Paul di Resta (Force India)
12. Bruno Senna (Williams)
13. Sergio Perez (Sauber)
14. Michael Schumacher (Mercedes)
15. Kamui Kobayashi (Sauber)
16. Daniel Ricciardo (Toro Rosso)
17. Jean-Eric Vergne (Toro Rosso)
18. Romain Grosjean (Lotus)
19. Vitaly Petrov (Caterham)
20. Heikki Kovalainen (Caterham)
21. Timo Glock (Marussia)
22. Charles Pic (Marussia)
23. Narain Karthikeyan (HRT)
24. Pedro de la Rosa (HRT)
