Sebastian Vettel put Red Bull on top in the final practice session for the Brazilian Grand Prix.
Team mate Mark Webber was third fastest with the McLaren pair second and fourth.
The Renault drivers were out first, Bruno Senna heading the times briefly on his home track before pitting.
The next driver to head the times was Lewis Hamilton, before team mate Jenson Button beat his fastest lap on the harder tyres.
Sebastian Vettel edged Button with his last effort, going just five-hundredths of a second faster than the McLaren.
The Mercedes drivers were the first onto soft tyres, Rosberg getting within a tenth of a second of Vettel’s time.
Webber – still on the harder tyres – beat Vettel’s time by three-hundredths of a second, before Adrian Sutil hit the top of the times with a 1’13.113 on softs.
Fernando Alonso was the next driver to go fastest, lowering the mark to 1’12.765, before Hamilton eclipsed his time by a tenth of a second.
But it was a familiar sight at the end of the session as Vettel set the fastest time once again, then improved it to end up on a 1’12.460.
Button moved up to second, less than a tenth of a second behind the Red Bull, with Webber taking third on a 1’12.597, pushing Hamilton down to fourth.
Sutil’s time was good enough to put him sixth behind Alonso, and ahead of the two Mercedes. Michael Schumacher had a near-miss when he came across a dawdling Massa in the pit lane exit at the end of the session.
Massa ended up tenth behind Paul di Resta. But Sebastien Buemi was unable to set a time after a technical problem on his Toro Rosso.
Combined practice times
| Pos | Driver | Car | FP1 | FP2 | FP3 | Sat/Fri | Laps |
| 1 | Sebastian Vettel | Red Bull-Renault | 1’14.025 | 1’13.559 | 1’12.460 | -1.099 | 90 |
| 2 | Jenson Button | McLaren-Mercedes | 1’13.825 | 1’13.787 | 1’12.547 | -1.24 | 80 |
| 3 | Mark Webber | Red Bull-Renault | 1’13.811 | 1’13.587 | 1’12.597 | -0.99 | 88 |
| 4 | Lewis Hamilton | McLaren-Mercedes | 1’13.961 | 1’13.392 | 1’12.622 | -0.77 | 70 |
| 5 | Fernando Alonso | Ferrari | 1’14.541 | 1’13.598 | 1’12.765 | -0.833 | 78 |
| 6 | Adrian Sutil | Force India-Mercedes | 1’14.144 | 1’13.113 | -1.031 | 63 | |
| 7 | Nico Rosberg | Mercedes | 1’15.321 | 1’13.872 | 1’13.286 | -0.586 | 91 |
| 8 | Michael Schumacher | Mercedes | 1’15.162 | 1’13.723 | 1’13.393 | -0.33 | 85 |
| 9 | Paul di Resta | Force India-Mercedes | 1’15.241 | 1’14.807 | 1’13.419 | -1.388 | 98 |
| 10 | Felipe Massa | Ferrari | 1’14.507 | 1’13.750 | 1’13.583 | -0.167 | 91 |
| 11 | Vitaly Petrov | Renault | 1’14.856 | 1’13.838 | -1.018 | 58 | |
| 12 | Rubens Barrichello | Williams-Cosworth | 1’15.663 | 1’15.903 | 1’14.283 | -1.38 | 86 |
| 13 | Jaime Alguersuari | Toro Rosso-Ferrari | 1’15.468 | 1’15.388 | 1’14.296 | -1.092 | 90 |
| 14 | Kamui Kobayashi | Sauber-Ferrari | 1’15.747 | 1’15.019 | 1’14.311 | -0.708 | 100 |
| 15 | Pastor Maldonado | Williams-Cosworth | 1’15.836 | 1’15.679 | 1’14.454 | -1.225 | 92 |
| 16 | Sergio Perez | Sauber-Ferrari | 1’15.979 | 1’14.970 | 1’14.547 | -0.423 | 91 |
| 17 | Bruno Senna | Renault | 1’15.732 | 1’14.931 | 1’14.550 | -0.381 | 84 |
| 18 | Nico Hulkenberg | Force India-Mercedes | 1’15.178 | 28 | |||
| 19 | Sebastien Buemi | Toro Rosso-Ferrari | 1’15.264 | 47 | |||
| 20 | Romain Grosjean | Renault | 1’15.547 | 18 | |||
| 21 | Jarno Trulli | Lotus-Renault | 1’16.298 | 1’15.843 | -0.455 | 60 | |
| 22 | Heikki Kovalainen | Lotus-Renault | 1’16.514 | 1’16.338 | 1’16.026 | -0.312 | 103 |
| 23 | Jean-Eric Vergne | Toro Rosso-Ferrari | 1’16.052 | 33 | |||
| 24 | Jerome d’Ambrosio | Virgin-Cosworth | 1’18.653 | 1’18.031 | 1’16.616 | -1.415 | 94 |
| 25 | Vitantonio Liuzzi | HRT-Cosworth | 1’18.476 | 1’17.143 | -1.333 | 65 | |
| 26 | Daniel Ricciardo | HRT-Cosworth | 1’18.952 | 1’18.367 | 1’17.296 | -1.071 | 98 |
| 27 | Luiz Razia | Lotus-Renault | 1’17.595 | 31 | |||
| 28 | Timo Glock | Virgin-Cosworth | 1’18.140 | 1’18.051 | 1’17.984 | -0.067 | 97 |
| 29 | Jan Charouz | HRT-Cosworth | 1’19.577 | 37 |
2011 Brazilian Grand Prix
- Sutil voted Driver of the Weekend for Brazil
- Vettel “definitely affected” by gearbox problem – Webber
- 2011 Brazilian Grand Prix: complete race weekend review
- Vote for Brazilian GP driver of the weekend
- Red Bull: Gearbox glitch hands win to Webber
- McLaren: Button wanted to pass Alonso without using DRS
- Massa makes 100 Ferrari starts but no podium
- Ferrari: Alonso slips back on medium tyres
- Mercedes: Two-stop strategy leaves Rosberg vulnerable
- Force India: Sutil equals best result of the year
Image ?é?® Red Bull/Getty images
Eggry (@eggry)
26th November 2011, 14:15
Ah, Vettel!
usukpam (@usukpam)
26th November 2011, 14:26
Vettel will not be on pole today!!!
BS (@bs)
26th November 2011, 14:49
I actually wouldn’t mind another ‘best ever’ stat, I’ll be rooting for him today, which seems like a safe bet. :)
Fixy (@)
26th November 2011, 15:24
Very likely, and as I feel sorry for his retirement last race I wouldn’t mind him being on pole (I’m used to it)!
damonsmedley (@damonsmedley)
26th November 2011, 14:35
If it rains, I think we could see a McLaren or Ferrari on pole. No-one seems to know what the weather’s up to though!
tflb1 (@)
26th November 2011, 14:50
Or even a Force India or Mercedes. I hope it rains!
HK (@me4me)
26th November 2011, 15:01
Great job by Adrian Sutil! Mark Webber also seem to feel good at Interlagos. Hoping for an exiting wet race tomorrow, with a great battle for #1 between Vettel and Webber.
sid_prasher (@)
26th November 2011, 15:30
Rain in the last race of the season will be fun!
AndrewTanner (@andrewtanner)
26th November 2011, 15:37
@sid_prasher It would be fun! Certainly a season finisher to remember.
AndrewTanner (@andrewtanner)
26th November 2011, 15:35
I still expect to see Vettel on pole.
meek (@meek)
26th November 2011, 17:11
Is there a way to see a comparison b/w the use of DRS of different drivers? In the pole lap replay I saw that Vettel’s use od DRS was 100% perfect… Would be interesting to see how Sebastien compares to others.