F1: McLaren Sweeps Brazil Front Row; Vettel Beats Alonso

Formula 1

F1: McLaren Sweeps Brazil Front Row; Vettel Beats Alonso

Teammates Lewis Hamilton and Jenson Button will start 1-2 in Brazil...

Jared Turner | Posted November 24, 2012 Sao Paulo (BRA)

SPEED's Bob Varsha, David Hobbs and Steve Matchett break down qualifying from Brazil. (Image: SPEED)

McLaren's magical weekend at Interlagos remained intact in Brazilian Grand Prix qualifying, with Lewis Hamilton winning pole and teammate Jenson Button taking second on the grid for Sunday's season finale.

Hamilton, who led both of Friday's practices at the Sao Paulo track before bowing to Button in P3 Saturday morning, is making his final appearance this weekend with McLaren before moving to Mercedes next season.

Red Bull drivers Mark Webber and Sebastian Vettel will hold down row 2 on Sunday's grid, as Australian Webber surprisingly upstaged his championship-leading teammate.

Native Brazilian Felipe Massa qualified fifth, three positions better than Ferrari teammate Fernando Alonso, who enters Sunday's race with a mathematical, albeit slim, shot at passing Vettel for the World Championship.

Alonso, however, will move up a spot to seventh on the grid due to a penalty on sixth-place qualifier Pastor Maldonado, who will drop 10 positions after incurring a reprimand for missing the weighbridge in the second part of qualifying.

Because the reprimand for the incident was Maldonado's third of the year, the Williams driver was given a grid demotion this time.

Having no such issues on Saturday was Hamilton (1:12:458), who won last weekend's inaugural United States GP in Austin and is looking to finish his lengthy McLaren tenure with back-to-back victories.

"Its been a good weekend so far and I'm grateful to be able to put the car on the front row," said Hamilton, who won his only title with McLaren in 2008. "I'm so grateful for all of the chances McLaren has given me."

Lewis Hamilton charged to pole at Interlagos in his final qualifying run for McLaren. (Photo: LAT Photographic)

Button, who will be joined at McLaren next year by current Sauber driver Sergio Perez, was happy to be sharing the front row with Hamilton as his teammate one last time.

"It was a good lap," said Button, who ran 1:12:513. "Lewis was half a tenth quicker, and it's great to both qualify on the front row for his last Grand Prix with the team."

Webber, winner of the 2011 Brazilian GP, says his focus for Sunday is not helping teammate Vettel's bid for a third consecutive World Championship.

"I think we focus on ourselves tomorrow," Webber said. "I'll be focusing 100 percent of my efforts on my cockpit and getting to the finish as quick as possible."

To clinch the title, German Vettel needs to finish only fourth or better. To have any chance at the championship, Spaniard Alonso must finish no worse than third, and hope that Vettel finishes outside of the points.

Starting outside the points is Michael Schumacher, who will retire from Formula One for the second time after Sunday's season-ending race.

Schumacher will line up 13th for his final Grand Prix, his Mercedes team having gambled and chosen a wet setup in anticipation of rain on Sunday.

Failing to advance out of Q1 for only the second time all season was the Lotus of Romain Grosjean (18th), who has yet to sign a contract with the team for 2013.

Mostly responsible for the Frechman's disappointing qualifying result was a collision with the slower HRT of Pedro de la Rosa that damaged Grosjean's front wing and ruined a flying lap.

Qualifying concludes Saturday's on-track activities at Interlagos.

SPEED coverage will resume Sunday at 10:30 a.m. ET with a half-hour pre-race show live from the grid, followed by live racing at 11 a.m.

Jared Turner is an Associate Editor for SPEED.com, covering NASCAR and Formula One, and is an Editor for TruckSeries.com. His professional motorsports writing career began in 2005.