SAO PAULO, Nov 24: Red Bull’s quadruple world champion Sebastian Vettel stormed to pole position for the season-ending Brazilian Formula One Grand Prix after a rain-hit qualifying session at Interlagos on Saturday.

The 26-year-old German, more than ever in a class of his own, made his 45th career pole — and ninth of the season — look all too easy as he swept round a rain-soaked track with a time of one minute 26.479 seconds.

Nico Rosberg joined his compatriot on the front row for Mercedes, but the 0.623 second gulf between his time and Vettel’s told the real story.

Ferrari’s Fernando Alonso equalled his best position of the season with third place next to Vettel’s Australian team-mate Mark Webber, preparing for his Formula One farewell before heading off to race sportscars with Porsche.

Lewis Hamilton qualified fifth for Mercedes with Frenchman Romain Grosjean sixth for Lotus.

Brazilian Felipe Massa will start his last race for Ferrari in ninth place and sounded frustrated talking to reporters after the session.

Qualifying results:

1. Sebastian Vettel (Germany) Red Bull-Renault 1:26.479; 2. Nico Rosberg (Germany) Mercedes 1:27.102; 3. Fernando Alonso (Spain) Ferrari 1:27.539; 4. Mark Webber (Australia) Red Bull-Renault 1:27.572; 5. Lewis Hamilton (Britain) Mercedes 1:27.677; 6. Romain Grosjean (France) Lotus-Renault 1:27.737; 7. Daniel Ricciardo (Australia) Toro Rosso-Ferrari 1:28.052; 8. Jean-Eric Vergne (France) Toro Rosso-Ferrari 1:28.081; 9. Felipe Massa (Brazil) Ferrari 1:28.109; 10. Nico Huelkenberg (Germany) Sauber-Ferrari 1:29.582; 11. Heikki Kovalainen (Finland) Lotus-Renault 1:27.456; 12. Paul Di Resta (Britain) Force India-Mercedes 1:27.798; 13. Valtteri Bottas (Finland) Williams-Renault 1:27.954; 14. Sergio Perez (Mexico) McLaren 1:28.269; 15. Jenson Button (Britain) McLaren 1:28.308; 16. Adrian Sutil (Germany) Force India-Mercedes 1:28.586; 17. Pastor Maldonado (Venezuela) Williams-Renault 1:27.367; 18. Esteban Gutierrez (Mexico) Sauber-Ferrari 1:27.445; 19. Charles Pic (France) Caterham-Renault 1:27.843; 20. Giedo van der Garde (Netherlands) Caterham-Renault 1:28.320; 21. Jules Bianchi (France) Marussia-Cosworth 1:28.366; 22. Max Chilton (Britain) Marussia-Cosworth 1:28.950.

Starting grid:

1. Vettel, 2. Rosberg, 3. Alonso, 4. Webber, 5. Hamilton, 6. Grosjean, 7. Ricciardo, 8. Vergne, 9. Massa, 10. Huelkenberg, 11. Kovalainen, 12. Di Resta, 13. Bottas, 14. Perez, 15. Button, 16. Sutil, 17. Maldonado, 18. Gutierrez, 19. Pic, 20. van der Garde, 21. Bianchi, 22. Chilton.—Reuters