Williams win rare pole thanks to sensational Nico Hulkenberg

BRAZILIAN GPTodayBBC 2, 3:10pm

Nico Hulkenberg caused a sensation in qualifying for the Brazilian Grand Prix by claiming Williams' first pole position for five and a half years.

Not since the European Grand Prix at the Nurburgring in May 2005 have the Grove-based marque claimed top spot, but Hulkenberg made the most of the unusual conditions at Interlagos to clinch pole.

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Behind the 23-year-old German are the four main title contenders in Red Bull duo Sebastian Vettel and Mark Webber, along with McLaren's Lewis Hamilton and Ferrari's Fernando Alonso.

The top-ten shoot-out was an astonishing affair, mainly due to the nature of the track that was wet at the start of qualifying, only to develop a dry line with minutes remaining.

That prompted the drivers to switch from intermediates, which they had used throughout Q1, Q2 and for the first run in Q3, to slicks.

And it was Hulkenberg, whose future with the team is up in the air, who mastered the circuit to send waves of joy throughout Williams' garage. Team-mate Rubens Barrichello could only finish sixth, followed by Renault's Robert Kubica, Michael Schumacher in his Mercedes, Felipe Massa for Ferrari and the second Renault of Vitaly Petrov.

Jenson Button's faint hopes of holding on to his title are virtually over after the Briton could only qualify 11th.

With Button 42 points behind Alonso, only a victory will do for the 30-year-old, but he now faces a mountain he is unlikely to climb.

Behind him will be Sauber's Kamui Kobayashi and another surprise in Nico Rosberg in his Mercedes, finding himself out-qualified by team- mate Schumacher for only the fourth time this season.

A beaming Hulkenberg said: "It's amazing. I still can't believe I've done it.

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"To go on slicks was the right decision. I squeezed everything out of my car, so I'm very, very happy. I'm just enjoying the moment.

"My first pole is so emotional. I'm still shaking from the thrill, but now we have to get on with the job."

Vettel said: "It was a tricky session, but in the end everyone decided to go to dry tyres.

"At first I thought I'd missed pole by a tenth of a second, but I saw it was actually a second, so congratulations to Nico."

1 Fernando Alonso 231

(Spain) Ferrari

2 Mark Webber 220

(Australia) Red Bull-Renault

3 Lewis Hamilton 210

(Great Britain) McLaren-Mercedes

4 Sebastian Vettel 206

(Germany) Red Bull-Renault

5 Jenson Button 189

(Great Britain) McLaren-Mercedes

6 Felipe Massa 143

(Brazil) Ferrari