Hamilton on pole but battle between Vettel and Alonso

Brit fastest in qualifying in his final GP for McLaren; Vettel 4th while Alonso to start 8th.

SAO PAULO:

Lewis Hamilton grabbed pole position for today’s championship showdown Brazilian Grand Prix as he and his McLaren team upstaged the title fighters and locked out the front row for the fourth time this year.

In his final qualifying session for the team before leaving to join Mercedes next year, the 27-year-old Britain clocked a fastest lap of one minute and 12.458 seconds to outpace fellow Briton Jenson Button by one-tenth of a second. The dazzling performance from the two McLaren men left championship contenders, defending champion Sebastian Vettel of Red Bull down in fourth and his title rival, two-time champion Fernando Alonso of Ferrari, in eighth. To win the championship, Alonso must win with Vettel lower than fourth, be second with Vettel lower than seventh or be third with the Red Bull driver below ninth.

Vettel was disappointed with his fourth position.

“We were not quick enough in qualifying,” said the German. “We have to look at the data and see where we could have improved.”



Vettel and Alonso were out-qualified by their teammates Mark Webber, who was third for Red Bull, and Brazilian Felipe Massa who was fifth fastest on his home track for Ferrari. Venezuelan Pastor Maldonado was sixth for Williams ahead of German Nico Hulkenberg of Force India with Finn Kimi Raikkonen taking ninth spot on the grid for Lotus ahead of German Nico Rosberg of Mercedes.

Schumacher faces final curtain call

Meanwhile, in the expected tumult of the championship, celebrations that will follow today’s title decider in Brazil, one man will linger, take it all in and make a quiet, dignified exit.

Michael Schumacher, who will start in 14th today, will bid farewell to a sport he has graced, upset, laced with controversy and at times turned into a processional march through the record books. But he will do so knowing he has created moments of drama and delivered hints of the talent that once burned so brilliantly.



“This time round, I will be able to pay more attention to my farewell and hopefully savour it too,” said Schumacher when asked to reflect on his feelings ahead of his final race. “I have had fantastic years in Formula One and a lot of support from fans around the world, and I wish to particularly thank them for that. Of course, I would be happiest if I could say goodbye with a strong race and I am sure we will be doing everything we can to make it happen.”

If statistics tell a story, they tell supreme success for Schumacher: 306 races (including Brazil), 91 wins, seven drivers’ world titles, 68 poles and 77 fastest laps.

Schumacher bows out with a fitting message for fans on his race helmet: “Life is about passions — thank you for sharing mine.”

Published in The Express Tribune, November 25^th, 2012.