Rosberg took pole for the Brazilian Grand Prix on November 14 with a Q3 lap of 1:11.282, beating Hamilton by 0.078 seconds. Vettel was third.
This was Rosberg’s fifth consecutive pole position. Hamilton had led his teammate in Q1, while both Ferraris were also firmly among the front-runners.
Alonso stopped with a car problem in Q1 before setting a time and finished without a valid lap. Maldonado, Button, Rossi and Stevens were also eliminated in the first session.
Nasr had impeded Massa in Q1 and received a grid penalty afterwards. The penalty left both drivers’ qualifying timing records unchanged.
Hamilton led Vettel and Rosberg in Q2. Nasr was 11th and Sainz 12th, while Pérez, Ericsson and Grosjean also failed to reach Q3.
On the first Q3 runs, Rosberg led with a 1:11.461 to Hamilton’s 1:11.549. Both improved on their second attempts, with Rosberg retaining a 0.078-second advantage.
Vettel was third, Bottas fourth and Räikkönen fifth. Hülkenberg was sixth, Kvyat seventh, Massa eighth, Ricciardo ninth and Verstappen tenth.
Bottas received a three-place grid penalty for overtaking under red flags, Ricciardo a ten-place penalty for a power-unit change and Nasr a three-place penalty for impeding Massa. Their qualifying timing positions were fourth, ninth and 11th respectively.
| Position | No. | Driver | Team | Q1 | Q2 | Q3 | Laps |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 6 | Nico Rosberg | Mercedes | 1:11.746 | 1:12.213 | 1:11.282 | 12 |
| 2 | 44 | Lewis Hamilton | Mercedes | 1:11.682 | 1:11.665 | 1:11.360 | 12 |
| 3 | 5 | Sebastian Vettel | Ferrari | 1:12.240 | 1:11.928 | 1:11.804 | 16 |
| 4 | 77 | Valtteri Bottas | Williams | 1:12.934 | 1:12.374 | 1:12.085 | 18 |
| 5 | 7 | Kimi Räikkönen | Ferrari | 1:12.185 | 1:12.243 | 1:12.144 | 16 |
| 6 | 27 | Nico Hülkenberg | Force India | 1:12.595 | 1:12.485 | 1:12.265 | 18 |
| 7 | 26 | Daniil Kvyat | Red Bull | 1:12.730 | 1:12.527 | 1:12.322 | 20 |
| 8 | 19 | Felipe Massa | Williams | 1:12.980 | 1:12.858 | 1:12.415 | 21 |
| 9 | 3 | Daniel Ricciardo | Red Bull | 1:12.639 | 1:12.825 | 1:12.417 | 17 |
| 10 | 33 | Max Verstappen | Toro Rosso | 1:12.824 | 1:12.712 | 1:12.739 | 15 |
| 11 | 12 | Felipe Nasr | Sauber | 1:13.111 | 1:12.989 | — | 14 |
| 12 | 55 | Carlos Sainz | Toro Rosso | 1:13.267 | 1:13.045 | — | 15 |
| 13 | 11 | Sergio Pérez | Force India | 1:13.140 | 1:13.147 | — | 13 |
| 14 | 9 | Marcus Ericsson | Sauber | 1:13.346 | 1:13.233 | — | 14 |
| 15 | 8 | Romain Grosjean | Lotus | 1:13.056 | 1:13.913 | — | 11 |
| 16 | 13 | Pastor Maldonado | Lotus | 1:13.385 | — | — | 5 |
| 17 | 22 | Jenson Button | McLaren | 1:13.425 | — | — | 6 |
| 18 | 53 | Alexander Rossi | Marussia | 1:16.151 | — | — | 6 |
| 19 | 28 | Will Stevens | Marussia | 1:16.283 | — | — | 6 |
| NC | 14 | Fernando Alonso | McLaren | DNF | — | — | 2 |
