Hulkenberg Takes Surprise Pole in Brazil

Nico Hulkenberg set the fastest time in qualifying for tomorrow’s Brazilian Grand Prix in Sao Paulo this afternoon, a second faster than Sebastian Vettel who starts second and Mark Webber who starts third.

As the track started to dry out in Q3, the drivers pitted for the soft tyres, and while the Red Bulls, Fernando Alonso and Lewis Hamilton looked quick, they weren’t quick enough to beat Hulkenberg.

Alonso, who leads the championship by 11 points, will start fifth, incidentally on his final recycled engine after engine failure earlier in the weekend. Hamilton will start ahead of him in fourth alongside Webber on the second row.

Hulkenberg’s Williams teammate, Rubens Barrichello, will start sixth, with Robert Kubica seventh, Michael Schumacher eighth, Felipe Massa ninth, and Vitaly Petrov tenth.

Jenson Button failed to get into the top ten shoot-out, and will start 11th, his championship hopes appearing to have diminished. Kamui Kobayashi starts 12th, Nico Rosberg 13th, Jaime Alguersuari 14th, Sebastien Buemi 15th, and Nick Heidfeld and Vitantonio Liuzzi 16th and 17th, also dropping out in Q2.

Adrian Sutil was the one joining the new teams in Q1, dropping out in 18th, but will start 23rd after receiving a five-place grid-drop penalty for his antics in Korea two weeks ago. That leaves Timo Glock 18th on the grid, Jarno Trulli 19th, Heikki Kovalainen 20th, Lucas di Grassi 21st, Christian Klien 22nd, and Bruno Senna 24th.

So will the title be decided tomorrow? If Alonso wins the race, or finishes second or third with his competitors behind him, he will secure the championship with one race left to go. But no doubt his title contenders won’t be giving up without a fight.

The race starts at 4pm UK time.