Hamilton grabs pole in Brazil; Vettel starts 4th

SAO PAULO—Lewis Hamilton won the pole position for the season-ending Brazilian Grand Prix on Saturday, while Formula One leader Sebastian Vettel will start fourth and title challenger Fernando Alonso only seventh.

Hamilton set a lap of 1 minute, 12.458 seconds with his McLaren at Interlagos, just .055 in front of teammate Jenson Button. Vettel’s Red Bull teammate Mark Webber will start third after a lap of 1:12.581, with Vettel behind him with a run of 1:12.760.

Ferrari’s Felipe Massa was fifth after clocking 1:12.987, while teammate Alonso only managed a lap of 1:13.253, hurting his chances of overtaking Vettel for the championship. His lap was only good for eighth place, but he later moved up a spot because sixth-place Pastor Maldonado of Williams was penalized 10 grid positions for not stopping for weighing.

Vettel needs to finish fourth or better on Sunday to become F1’s youngest three-time champion at age 25. Alonso, also seeking his third title, needs at least a podium finish to have any chance of overcoming the 13point deficit he has to Vettel.

Michael Schumacher, preparing for his final race before retiring and giving way to Hamilton, couldn’t do much with his Mercedes and will start only 13th.

Hamilton, who won the 2008 championship at Interlagos, will be driving his last race with McLaren before joining Mercedes next season.