Rosberg on the pole in Brazil

Nico Rosberg will start the field tomorrow in São Paulo.

The driver of the No. 6 Mercedes AMG Petronas car won his fifth straight pole with a time of 71.282 and a speed of 135.198 mph. He said afterwards that qualifying was “an area that I had to work on, so I have been working on it through the season. But I don’t have a direct explanation, a precise thing I’ve done different.”

Teammate Lewis Hamilton will start second with a time of 71.360 and a speed of 135.051 mph. Asked if not being on pole since Monza concerned the 2015 champion, he simply said “no” and that his “main job is done this year. I have the most poles of the year and I won the world championship, so there’s nothing really to read into this. You don’t always get it right. You can’t get it perfect every single time.”

It shouldn’t shock anyone that it was a Mercedes on pole. They’ve taken the top spot in qualifying in all but one race this season. Sebastian Vettel was the only other driver to be on pole this season when he took it in Singapore.

Speaking of Vettel, the four time world champion placed his No. 5 Scuderia Ferrari in third with a time of 71.804 and a speed of 134.215 mph. Valtteri Bottas finished his No. 77 Williams Martini Racing Mercedes in fourth with a time of 72.085 and a speed of 133.692 mph. He was handed a three-place grid penalty for overtaking Felipe Nasr under red-flag conditions in free practice 2. Kimi Räikönen rounded out the top-five in his No. 7 Scuderia Ferrari with a time of 72.144 and a speed of 133.583 mph.

Nico Hülkenberg qualified sixth. Daniil Kvyat qualified seventh. Felipe Massa qualified eighth. Daniel Ricciardo qualified ninth. He was handed a 10-place grid penalty for his team going over the five engine change limit for the season. Max Verstappen rounded out the top-10.

The views and opinions expressed in this article are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of SpeedwayMedia.com

Tucker White
Tucker White
I've followed NASCAR for well over 20 years of my life, both as a fan and now as a member of the media. As of 2024, I'm on my ninth season as a traveling NASCAR beat writer. For all its flaws and dumb moments, NASCAR at its best produces some of the best action you'll ever see in the sport of auto racing. Case in point: Kyle Larson's threading the needle pass at Darlington Raceway on May 9, 2021. On used-up tires, racing on a worn surface and an aero package that put his car on the razor's edge of control, Larson demonstrated why he's a generational talent. Those are the stories I want to capture and break down. In addition to NASCAR, I also follow IndyCar and Formula 1. As a native of Knoxville, Tennessee, and a graduate of the University of Tennessee, I'm a diehard Tennessee Volunteers fan (especially in regards to Tennessee football). If covering NASCAR doesn't kill me, down the road, watching Tennessee football will. I'm also a diehard fan of the Atlanta Braves, and I lived long enough to see them win a World Series for the first time since 1995 (when I was just a year old). I've also sworn my fan allegiance to the Nashville Predators, though that's not paid out as much as the Braves. Furthermore, as a massive sports dork, I follow the NFL on a weekly basis. Though it's more out of an obligation than genuine passion (for sports dorks, following the NFL is basically an unwritten rule). Outside of sports, I'm a major cinema buff and a weeb. My favorite film is "Blazing Saddles" and my favorite anime is "Black Lagoon."

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