Sebastian Vettel claimed pole position at Interlagos after rain delayed the start of Q3 during qualifying for the Brazilian Grand Prix.

Rain fell on and off during most of the session but a heavier, sustained downpour of rain forced a delay of around 40minutes before Q3 could commence. But once the final part of the session got underway, Vettel was once again in a class of his own.

Nico Rosberg will join Vettel on the front row of the grid tomorrow, followed by Fernando Alonso who claimed the third grid spot for Ferrari.

Qualifying for the Brazilian GP got underway on a fairly damp track with drizzles of rain around and nobody wasted any time heading out for the session. All 22 drivers headed out very quickly to get their initial laps in.

Lewis Hamilton was first to get a timed lap in and the earliest drivers out joined him in being in the best position to get through to Q2. Drivers who started further back however, found themselves struggling a little with traffic and worsening conditions. As conditions worsened, drivers headed back into the pits – all bar those who were in danger of being eliminated. The only driver who managed to escape elimination on his final effort though, was Jean-Eric Vergne who had voiced his dissatisfaction with his team sending him out a little too late in the session.

Pastor Maldonado was eliminated from his final qualifying for the Williams team at the end of Q1 along with Esteban Gutierrez, and the Marussia and Caterham drivers.

Q2 held much of the same for the drivers and they again headed out immediately as the session got underway but the rain seemed to hold off pretty well for most of the session.

Both Toro Rosso drivers claimed spots in Q3 but it was the McLaren drivers who took yet another blow to their already lacklustre season.

Jenson Button failed to make it through to the third part of qualifying and his team mate Sergio Perez touched the white line in Turn 4 and could not recover through Turn 5 to keep his car on track, banging it into the barrier.

He climbed out of his car unhurt – but clearly disappointed in his final qualifying performance for the team.

While Perez’s car was being recovered, the rain intensified and the start of Q3 was delayed several times for a total delay of around 45 minutes. The final three postponements were due to the standing water on the track.

After only one run on the full wet tyres, drivers opted to head back into the pits and go back to the intermediate tyres, raising questions as to whether it was indeed necessary for such a lengthy delay.

Romain Grosjean did not even complete his first flying lap before heading back in for intermediate tyres.

Ferrari held their drivers back between their runs to give them the best possible running positions and it worked fantastically for Fernando Alonso who managed to qualify in third position. Alonso however felt he could have done better to manage second and apologised to his team at the end of the session.

When all was said and done though nobody had an answer for the relentless Sebastian Vettel who was a full second faster than his rivals with his first run, and finished 6 tenths of a second ahead of Rosberg at the end of the session.

Here are the full timesheets for the qualifying session today and your starting grid for tomorrow’s Brazilian Grand Prix. Remember to join us on Twitter @F1_Madness for live updates and interaction with other Formula One fans.