Nico Rosberg denied Lewis Hamilton in Brazil as he went on to secure his fifth consecutive pole position, 0.078 ahead of the Briton who will start second.
Ferrari’s Sebastian Vettel could only get within half a second and will start third ahead of Kimi Raikkonen. Whilst Valtteri Bottas took fourth, he will drop three places after being penalised on Friday for overtaking under red flags.
Daniel Ricciardo will also drop further back. He qualified ninth but will start 19th having been handed a ten-place penalty for changing his engine.
McLaren’s Fernando Alonso failed to set a time during Q1 when his team told him to “stop immediately” due to an engine issue. The Spaniard chose to spend the remainder of the session sunbathing by the side of track.
2015 Brazilian Grand Prix (Qualifying):
| # | Driver | Team | Time | Gap |
| 01 | Nico Rosberg | Mercedes | 1:11.282 | – |
| 02 | Lewis Hamilton | Mercedes | 1:11.360 | 0.078 |
| 03 | Sebastian Vettel | Ferrari | 1:11.804 | 0.522 |
| 04 | Valtteri Bottas | Williams | 1:12.085 | 0.803 |
| 05 | Kimi Raikkonen | Ferrari | 1:12.144 | 0.862 |
| 06 | Nico Hulkenberg | Force India | 1:12.265 | 0.983 |
| 07 | Daniil Kvyat | Red Bull | 1:12.322 | 1.040 |
| 08 | Felipe Massa | Williams | 1:12.415 | 1.133 |
| 09 | Daniel Ricciardo | Red Bull | 1:12.417 | 1.135 |
| 10 | Max Verstappen | Toro Rosso | 1:12.739 | 1.457 |
| 11 | Felipe Nasr | Sauber | 1:12.989 | |
| 12 | Carlos Sainz | Toro Rosso | 1:13.045 | |
| 13 | Sergio Perez | Force India | 1:13.147 | |
| 14 | Marcus Ericsson | Sauber | 1:13.233 | |
| 15 | Romain Grosjean | Lotus | 1:13.913 | |
| 16 | Pastor Maldonado | Lotus | 1:13.385 | |
| 17 | Jenson Button | McLaren | 1:13.425 | |
| 18 | Alexander Rossi | Marussia | 1:16.151 | |
| 19 | Will Stevens | Marussia | 1:16.283 | |
| 20 | Fernando Alonso | McLaren | No Time |
