Nico Rosberg takes his fifth pole in a row in Brazil, Lewis Hamilton on front row

The German denied Hamilton, who won his third championship in Texas last month with three races to spare, a 50th career pole by a mere 0.078 of a second on a sunny afternoon at Interlagos.

Ferrari's Sebastian Vettel qualified third and will be joined on the second row by team mate Kimi Raikkonen because Williams driver Valtteri Bottas, who was fourth fastest, has a three place grid penalty.

Rosberg won from pole last year in Brazil, the penultimate round of the season, while Hamilton has never won in eight attempts in the home of his late boyhood idol Ayrton Senna.

Nico Rosberg admits he “was on the edge” during his final lap which secured pole position for the Brazilian Grand Prix.

Having secured his fifth consecutive pole position, Rosberg said his final attempt was right on the limit as he chased the extra bit of time required to secure first place on the grid.

“Of course pleased with today, the best place to be in for tomorrow’s race,” Rosberg said. “It worked well in qualifying.

"I was playing catch-up a little bit in quali two because it didn’t go to plan, but then quali three we really got going and got some good laps in. The last lap was on the edge, there was a couple of big moments in there but it still worked out to be a good time so I’m happy with that.”

Having also won the last race in Mexico, when asked how important it is for him to continue the current momentum he is enjoying through to the end of the season, Rosberg says it is not his primary focus.

“I’m just thinking about the individual races. I’m here, I want to win and that’s it really. Of course as a side-effect P2 in the championship is there to be had, which is better than P3 for sure. Also it’s always better to end on a high than on a low for sure this season, also thinking about next year.”