Barrichello takes pole in a drenched qualifying at Interlagos.

Rubens Barrichello has scored a crucial pole position at his home Grand Prix, as both his title rivals failed to reach Q3, and is looking good for posing a very dangerous threat to Jenson Button’s World Championship dreams at Abu Dhabi.

Alongside him on the grid will be Red Bull driver Mark Webber, followed by Force India’s Adrian Sutil, who has proven once again that he’s a driver to be reckoned with in the wet.

The race weekend was set to be exciting hours before qualifying, since the rain poured relentlessly onto the Brazilian circuit of Interlagos, in Sao Paolo. Q1 was interrupted a few minutes after it started due to Ferrari’s Giancarlo Fisichella spinning at turn two and stalling the car on the track. Red flags were waved, and the session didn’t start again until the conditions improved. The downpour had hardly decreased when the session was restarted however, and all the drivers struggled to stay on track, let alone set competitive lap times. The session ended with Championship contender Sebastian Vettel in 16th position, hardly surprising considering his car was set up for dry conditions. Both McLaren drivers had opted for the same strategy, and were also unable to get through to the next session. Heidfeld dropped out with them.

Q2 was also interrupted shortly after beggining as Vitantonio Liuzzi aquaplaned into the pit wall on the main straight and wrecked his car against the barriers. Fortunately, he left what remained of the car unscathed. The red flags were waved once more, but were followed this time by a much greater break, once again with the hope of the rain subsiding. This eventually ocurred, more than 20 minutes after Liuzzi’s accident, and the cars could finally have a go at setting some times. With the track getting drier and drier, there was a frenzy of position changes. A position that was soon apparent wasn’t going to vary was current World Championship leader Jenson Button’s, as he struggled greatly with his Brawn and was unable to set a competitive lap time. He could do no better than 14th, a position that puts his Championship bid in serious trouble. At the end of the session, most drivers switched to intermediate tires, which proved to be the best option. The other drivers that failed to reach the cut were Glock’s substitute Kamui Kobayashi, and rookies Jaime Alguersuari and Romain Grosjean.

Q3 went without a hitch, and saw all drivers using intermediate tires as the track was drying up rapidly. Pole position was changing hands in quick succession amongst nearly all the drivers left on track, but in the final minutes it was clear the battle would be between Barrichello and Webber. Finally, the Brazilian took it on the final lap, to the enjoyment of his home crowd. Sutil clocked in a fast time at the very end which puts him in 3rd position for tomorrow’s start, and if the conditions are anything like those of qualifying, he’s well capable of taking the top spot on the podium. It’s in Barrichello’s best interest not to let that happen, as every single point counts in his desperate plight to snatch the World Championship from his English teammate.

The grid for the Brazilian Grand Prix will be as follows:

1.  Barrichello                Brawn-Mercedes       
2.  Webber                      Red Bull-Renault     
3.  Sutil                             Force India-Mercedes 
4.  Trulli                           Toyota               
5.  Raikkonen                Ferrari              
6.  Buemi                         Toro Rosso-Ferrari   
7.  Rosberg                    Williams-Toyota      
8.  Kubica                       BMW-Sauber           
9.  Nakajima                  Williams-Toyota      
10.  Alonso                    Renault              
11.  Glock                        Toyota                 
12.  Alguersuari           Toro Rosso-Ferrari     
13.  Grosjean                 Renault                
14.  Button                     Brawn-Mercedes         
15.  Liuzzi                       Force India-Mercedes   
16.  Vettel                      Red Bull-Renault     
17.  Kovalainen           McLaren-Mercedes     
18.  Hamilton               McLaren-Mercedes     
19.  Heidfeld                 BMW-Sauber           
20.  Fisichella              Ferrari