Button enjoying qualifying improvement

Jenson Button was pleased to qualify in the top three for the Brazilian Grand Prix and said he was "just enjoying the moment" following recent failures.

Button had previously not qualified inside the top ten on his previous six attempts at Interlagos, only managing to line-up 13th on the grid last season as rain disrupted the session. His third place also saw him outqualify his team-mate Lewis Hamilton for the sixth time this season, and he said that he was looking forward to racing on a track he likes despite his recent qualifying record.

"I think we're all excited about tomorrow," Button said. "It's the last race of the year, you want to end on a high, but at the moment I'm just enjoying the moment. This is my best qualifying for the last six years, and ten places better I think than last year. So this is a good start to the weekend, and I always love racing here. It's such a good circuit for racing and really fighting, out of the last corner down in to turn one is very good for overtaking and obviously we have the DRS out of turn three."

Button actually admitted that he thought he'd done well enough for a spot on the front row when he completed his lap.

"My quick lap was pretty ragged. I was pretty aggressive on the throttle, which you have to be to be fast around here. That's not normally my style, but it was definitely quick and in fact I crossed the line thinking I'd be farther up the grid than I eventually was. But that was because the two guys in front of me did a great job too."

Button also said that even if he can't challenge the Red Bull's in the race it has been a good season for McLaren.

"Hopefully we can get these two [Vettel and Webber] tomorrow, but I think whatever happens it's been a great season for us but just not quite good enough. There are very few areas where we need to work on and as I said hopefully tomorrow we can end this reasonably good season off with a high."

ESPNF1

Sebastian Vettel grabs record-breaking 15th pole position in Brazil

Sebastian Vettel flew to a record 15th pole position of the 2011 season with an imperious performance in Brazilian Grand Prix qualifying at Interlagos.

The world champion topped Q2 then absolutely dominated Q3. Vettel's initial 1m12.268s effort put him a quarter of a second clear of the pack, and he then improved to 1m11.918s with his final attempt.

Mark Webber made it an all-Red Bull front row, winning a battle with McLaren's Q1 pacesetter Jenson Button as the Briton ended a run of Interlagos qualifying disasters to take third. Button had looked like he might manage to hang on to a front row slot until Webber came through with a 1m12.099s on his second run.

Lewis Hamilton was back in fourth in the other McLaren.

The Ferraris took fifth and seventh - Fernando Alonso and Felipe Massa split by Mercedes' Nico Rosberg, who had been a surprise second in Q2. Rosberg's team-mate Michael Schumacher did not attempt a final lap in Q3 so will start 10th.

Adrian Sutil took eighth in the leading Force India, ahead of Bruno Senna, who impressed on home ground to deliver a now rare Q3 appearance for a Renault.

Outside the top 10, Rubens Barrichello produced a strong performance to get his Williams up to 12th for what may be his last grand prix start.

Paul di Resta (Force India) and Vitaly Petrov (Renault) could not match their respective team-mates and will start 11th and 16th. The Toro Rossos will share row seven, while the Saubers made up the tail of the Q2 pack.

Pastor Maldonado was half a second down on Williams team-mate Rubens Barrichello as he ended up on the wrong side of the Q1 cut-off in 18th.

Lotus' new rear wing did not bring the hoped-for Q2 progress, but the team did move a further step closer to those ahead, with Heikki Kovalainen within half a second of Toro Rosso, Sauber and Williams pace.

HRT managed to get both its cars ahead of both Virgins, while Jerome D'Ambrosio outqualified Timo Glock in what could well be his final Virgin outing before being replaced by Charles Pic..

Pos  Driver                Team                 Time           Gap   
 1.  Sebastian Vettel      Red Bull-Renault     1m11.918s
 2.  Mark Webber           Red Bull-Renault     1m12.099s   + 0.181
 3.  Jenson Button         McLaren-Mercedes     1m12.283s   + 0.365
 4.  Lewis Hamilton        McLaren-Mercedes     1m12.480s   + 0.562
 5.  Fernando Alonso       Ferrari              1m12.591s   + 0.673
 6.  Nico Rosberg          Mercedes             1m13.050s   + 1.132
 7.  Felipe Massa          Ferrari              1m13.068s   + 1.150
 8.  Adrian Sutil          Force India-Mercedes 1m13.298s   + 1.380
 9.  Bruno Senna           Renault              1m13.761s   + 1.843
10.  Michael Schumacher    Mercedes
Q2 cut-off time: 1m13.571s                                   Gap **
11.  Paul di Resta         Force India-Mercedes 1m13.584s   + 1.138
12.  Rubens Barrichello    Williams-Cosworth    1m13.801s   + 1.355
13.  Jaime Alguersuari     Toro Rosso-Ferrari   1m13.804s   + 1.358
14.  Sebastien Buemi       Toro Rosso-Ferrari   1m13.919s   + 1.473
15.  Vitaly Petrov         Renault              1m14.053s   + 1.607
16.  Kamui Kobayashi       Sauber-Ferrari       1m14.129s   + 1.683
17.  Sergio Perez          Sauber-Ferrari       1m14.182s   + 1.736
Q1 cut-off time: 1m14.571s                                    Gap *
18.  Pastor Maldonado      Williams-Cosworth    1m14.625s   + 1.344
19.  Heikki Kovalainen     Lotus-Renault        1m15.068s   + 1.787
20.  Jarno Trulli          Lotus-Renault        1m15.358s   + 2.077
21.  Tonio Liuzzi          HRT-Cosworth         1m16.631s   + 3.350
22.  Daniel Ricciardo      HRT-Cosworth         1m16.890s   + 3.609
23.  Jerome D'Ambrosio     Virgin-Cosworth      1m17.019s   + 3.738
24.  Timo Glock            Virgin-Cosworth      1m17.060s   + 3.779

107% time: 1m18.410s

* Gap to quickest in Q1

** Gap to quickest in Q2

Autosport

Sebastian Vettel tops final Brazilian Grand Prix practice

Sebastian Vettel edged out Jenson Button to set the fastest time in the final free practice session ahead of Brazilian Grand Prix qualifying at Interlagos.

Their respective Red Bull and McLaren team-mates Mark Webber and Lewis Hamilton were third and fourth.

As had been the case on Friday, most of the session was a Red Bull versus McLaren battle at the front.

Hamilton was the big-hitters to post a quick time with a 1m13.988s after 17 minutes. Things moved fast in the next five minutes as everyone got fully up to speed, with Vettel hitting the front very briefly, being beaten by Button, then returning to the top with a 1m13.166s.

That kept Vettel at the head of the order for 20 minutes before Mark Webber edged ahead, and then Force India's Adrian Sutil made a surprise appearance in first place with a 1m13.113s on softs.

The German enjoyed six minutes in the spotlight prior to the bigger teams bolted on soft tyres too, with first Fernando Alonso (Ferrari), then Hamilton going to the front before Vettel blasted in consecutive laps in 1m12.508s and 1m12.460s - both faster than anyone else would manage.

Button ended up 0.087 seconds shy in second, followed by Webber, Hamilton and Alonso.

Sutil's lap kept him up in sixth place, ahead of the two Mercedes, the sister Force India of Paul di Resta and Ferrari's Felipe Massa. The Brazilian had a complicated end to the session with near-misses with Timo Glock's Virgin on track and Schumacher in the pit exit.

Further back, Bruno Senna lost some track time to engine issues on his Renault, and Sebastien Buemi did not get chance to set a time due to a hydraulic leak on his Toro Rosso.

Pos  Driver              Team/Car              Time       Gap       Laps
 1.  Sebastian Vettel    Red Bull-Renault      1m12.460s            21
 2.  Jenson Button       McLaren-Mercedes      1m12.547s  + 0.087s  19
 3.  Mark Webber         Red Bull-Renault      1m12.597s  + 0.137s  21
 4.  Lewis Hamilton      McLaren-Mercedes      1m12.622s  + 0.162s  15
 5.  Fernando Alonso     Ferrari               1m12.765s  + 0.305s  17
 6.  Adrian Sutil        Force India-Mercedes  1m13.113s  + 0.653s  22
 7.  Nico Rosberg        Mercedes              1m13.286s  + 0.826s  21
 8.  Michael Schumacher  Mercedes              1m13.393s  + 0.933s  19
 9.  Paul di Resta       Force India-Mercedes  1m13.419s  + 0.959s  19
10.  Felipe Massa        Ferrari               1m13.583s  + 1.123s  18
11.  Vitaly Petrov       Renault               1m13.838s  + 1.378s  20
12.  Rubens Barrichello  Williams-Cosworth     1m14.283s  + 1.823s  19
13.  Jaime Alguersuari   Toro Rosso-Ferrari    1m14.286s  + 1.826s  20
14.  Kamui Kobayashi     Sauber-Ferrari        1m14.311s  + 1.851s  24
15.  Pastor Maldonado    Williams-Cosworth     1m14.454s  + 1.994s  22
16.  Sergio Perez        Sauber-Ferrari        1m14.547s  + 2.087s  24
17.  Bruno Senna         Renault               1m14.551s  + 2.091s  15
18.  Jarno Trulli        Lotus-Renault         1m15.843s  + 3.383s  24
19.  Heikki Kovalainen   Lotus-Renault         1m16.026s  + 3.566s  22
20.  Jerome D'Ambrosio   Virgin-Cosworth       1m16.616s  + 4.156s  26
21.  Tonio Liuzzi        HRT-Cosworth          1m17.143s  + 4.683s  23
22.  Daniel Ricciardo    HRT-Cosworth          1m17.296s  + 4.836s  23
23.  Timo Glock          Virgin-Cosworth       1m17.984s  + 5.524s  23
24.  Sebastien Buemi     Toro Rosso-Ferrari                         3

All timing unofficial

Autosport

Lewis Hamilton tops second Friday practice for McLaren in Brazil

McLaren's Lewis Hamilton led the way in the second free practice session for the Brazilian Grand Prix at Interlagos.

Amid continued perfect weather at the Sao Paulo track, Hamilton spent the vast majority of the afternoon at the head of the order.

His first serious lap time of the session - a 1m13.852s - put him on top from the 11th minute to the 49th, and was only beaten when others switched to the softer tyres.

It was Michael Schumacher's Mercedes that deposed Hamilton, as the former champion put in a 1m13.723s. But six minutes later Hamilton was back out on soft rubber too, improving to first 1m13.653s, then the 1m13.392s that would keep him on top to the end.

World champion Sebastian Vettel eventually claimed second for Red Bull, 0.167 seconds off Hamilton's pace, and just ahead of RBR team-mate Mark Webber.

Fernando Alonso was the leading Ferrari driver in fourth, with Schumacher staying among the frontrunners in fifth.

Felipe Massa completed the top six for Ferrari, while Jenson Button spent a long spell just behind team-mate Hamilton in second before falling to seventh as he did not make a particular large pace jump on softs.

Nico Rosberg (Mercedes) and the Force Indias of Adrian Sutil and Paul di Resta completed the top 10.

The only notable incident of the session was a gearbox failure for Sergio Perez, which stranded his Sauber on the climb out of Juncao with a few minutes to go.

Pos  Driver                Team                   Time                Laps
 1.  Lewis Hamilton       McLaren-Mercedes       1m13.392s              35
 2.  Sebastian Vettel     Red Bull-Renault       1m13.559s  + 0.167 41
 3.  Mark Webber          Red Bull-Renault       1m13.587s  + 0.195 41
 4.  Fernando Alonso      Ferrari                1m13.598s  + 0.206 35
 5.  Michael Schumacher   Mercedes               1m13.723s  + 0.331 38
 6.  Felipe Massa         Ferrari                1m13.750s  + 0.358 39
 7.  Jenson Button        McLaren-Mercedes       1m13.787s  + 0.395 36
 8.  Nico Rosberg         Mercedes               1m13.872s  + 0.480 42
 9.  Adrian Sutil         Force India-Mercedes   1m14.144s  + 0.752 41
10.  Paul di Resta        Force India-Mercedes   1m14.807s  + 1.415 48
11.  Vitaly Petrov        Renault                1m14.856s  + 1.464 38
12.  Bruno Senna          Renault                1m14.931s  + 1.539 37
13.  Sergio Perez         Sauber-Ferrari         1m14.970s  + 1.578 32
14.  Kamui Kobayashi      Sauber-Ferrari         1m15.019s  + 1.627 45
15.  Sebastien Buemi      Toro Rosso-Ferrari     1m15.264s  + 1.872 44
16.  Jaime Alguersuari    Toro Rosso-Ferrari     1m15.388s  + 1.996 41
17.  Pastor Maldonado     Williams-Cosworth      1m15.679s  + 2.287 43
18.  Rubens Barrichello   Williams-Cosworth      1m15.903s  + 2.511 40
19.  Jarno Trulli         Lotus-Renault          1m16.298s  + 2.906 36
20.  Heikki Kovalainen    Lotus-Renault          1m16.338s  + 2.946 48
21.  Jerome D'Ambrosio    Virgin-Cosworth        1m18.031s  + 4.639 39
22.  Timo Glock           Virgin-Cosworth        1m18.051s  + 4.659 45
23.  Daniel Ricciardo     HRT-Cosworth           1m18.367s  + 4.975 42
24.  Tonio Liuzzi         HRT-Cosworth           1m18.476s  + 5.084 42

All Timing Unofficial

Autosport

Sky launch dedicated F1 channel

Sky will launch its new channel in March 2012 © Sutton Images

Sky Sports will cover Formula One in the UK in 2012 by way of a new dedicated channel: Sky Sports F1 HD.

Sky agreed a deal to broadcast every race from next season back in July, with the move angering British fans used to Formula One being available on free-to-air television. While the BBC will show live coverage of only 10 races as it scales back its coverage, Sky Sports' managing director Barney Francis says that the new channel - to be launched in March - will allow it to cover the sport in its full depth.

"Formula 1 followers are hungry for more and we want to give them the ultimate experience. It's not just every minute of every race but a channel devoted to Formula 1," Francis said. "We can now tell the whole story of the season, from every Grand Prix, from start to finish. Formula 1 will get the full Sky Sports treatment.

"We have big plans for live shows and a rich line-up of Formula 1 programmes; getting to the drivers, exploring the technology and lapping up the drama. With a dedicated channel for Formula 1 we can also give all sports fans the depth and breadth of sports they demand every weekend, right through the year."

ESPNF1

Mark Webber fastest in opening practice for the Brazilian Grand Prix

Mark Webber was quickest for Red Bull in the opening Brazilian Grand Prix practice session at a dry and sunny Interlagos.

A 1m13.811s lap for Webber heading into the final quarter of an hour saw him depose the two McLarens, with Jenson Button and Lewis Hamilton second and third ahead of Sebastian Vettel in the second Red Bull. All four were within 0.214 seconds.

The McLarens and Red Bulls had dominated the top of the standings once the serious running began after the first half hour, with Hamilton and Button up front for a quarter of an hour before Vettel took a turn in first place.

Button usurped the champion around the one-hour mark, with Hamilton coming in behind him to briefly form a McLaren one-two, before Webber set what proved to be the morning's fastest time.

The Ferraris completed the top six, with Felipe Massa ahead of Fernando Alonso - who parked with an engine failure four minutes from the end.

Michael Schumacher and Nico Rosberg's Mercedes took seventh and 10th, sandwiching the Force Indias of Nico Hulkenberg and Paul di Resta.

Hulkenberg was just one member of a large test and reserve driver contingent in action. Romain Grosjean was 12th for Renault despite stopping in the pit exit with clutch trouble after an hour. Toro Rosso's Jean-Eric Vergne took 18th, Luiz Razia was 20th on his return to Lotus duty, and Jan Charouz's grand prix weekend debut saw him slowest but within 0.6s of HRT team-mate Daniel Ricciardo.

There were no significant off-track incidents in the session bar a handful of trips over the run-off area and a swift spin for Sauber's Kamui Kobayashi.

Pos  Driver                Team                    Time               Laps
 1.  Mark Webber           Red Bull-Renault        1m13.811s            26
 2.  Jenson Button         McLaren-Mercedes        1m13.825s  + 0.014   25
 3.  Lewis Hamilton        McLaren-Mercedes        1m13.961s  + 0.150   20
 4.  Sebastian Vettel      Red Bull-Renault        1m14.025s  + 0.214   28
 5.  Felipe Massa          Ferrari                 1m14.507s  + 0.696   34
 6.  Fernando Alonso       Ferrari                 1m14.541s  + 0.730   26
 7.  Michael Schumacher    Mercedes                1m15.162s  + 1.351   28
 8.  Nico Hulkenberg       Force India-Mercedes    1m15.178s  + 1.367   28
 9.  Paul di Resta         Force India-Mercedes    1m15.241s  + 1.430   31
10.  Nico Rosberg          Mercedes                1m15.321s  + 1.510   29
11.  Jaime Alguersuari     Toro Rosso-Ferrari      1m15.468s  + 1.657   29
12.  Romain Grosjean       Renault                 1m15.547s  + 1.736   18
13.  Rubens Barrichello    Williams-Cosworth       1m15.663s  + 1.852   27
14.  Bruno Senna           Renault                 1m15.732s  + 1.921   32
15.  Kamui Kobayashi       Sauber-Ferrari          1m15.747s  + 1.936   31
16.  Pastor Maldonado      Williams-Cosworth       1m15.836s  + 2.025   27
17.  Sergio Perez          Sauber-Ferrari          1m15.979s  + 2.168   35
18.  Jean-Eric Vergne      Toro Rosso-Ferrari      1m16.052s  + 2.241   33
19.  Heikki Kovalainen     Lotus-Renault           1m16.514s  + 2.703   33
20.  Luiz Razia            Lotus-Renault           1m17.595s  + 3.784   31
21.  Timo Glock            Virgin-Cosworth         1m18.140s  + 4.329   29
22.  Jerome D'Ambrosio     Virgin-Cosworth         1m18.653s  + 4.842   29
23.  Daniel Ricciardo      HRT-Cosworth            1m18.952s  + 5.141   33
24.  Jan Charouz           HRT-Cosworth            1m19.577s  + 5.766   37

All Timing Unofficial

Autosport

Button 'happy' with achievements

Jenson Button said that he is "happy" with what he has achieved in 2011, saying it is been "a pretty strong year".

Button has won three races and emerged as the most consistent challenger to Sebastian Vettel in the second half of the season, with eight other podium finishes leaving him on the verge of securing second place in the drivers' championship. However, Button said that his finishing position in the standings was not as important of race wins, although acknowledged it would still be an achievement to be proud of.

"[Being runner-up] is not so important I suppose," Button said. "I think it's nice to know over a season you can finish in front of obviously some very good drivers but also some teams. To finish in front of a Red Bull would be great, considering that Sebastian's won the championship in a Red Bull. And Fernando has obviously been very strong in the Ferrari so, if I get the chance to beat them at the end of the season in terms of points, yeah, of course I'll be happy but as we all say, we'd rather come away from here with a victory, that means more to us than finishing second in the Championship - but it's still nice, I suppose, if you can come away with second.

"Looking back on 2011, yeah, I'm pretty happy with what I've achieved. We haven't been quite good enough to win the Championship but I think we've had a pretty strong year and hopefully we can build on what we've achieved this year, next year and really take the fight to Red Bull."

When asked if it had been satisfying for him to beat team-mate Lewis Hamilton over the season, Button said it was the individual race results like his victory in Japan which were more important to him.

"I think if we're fighting for the World Championship and one of us came out on top it would be a very special feeling but we're not in that position right now but for me, I'm happy with what I've achieved this year in terms of getting the best out of the car and getting some reasonably good performance. For me, Japan really stands out as being a great race, but also some other races that we haven't been able to win, so I take more comfort from just the results I've got out of…on a race weekend, and also how I've felt that I've done over a race weekend."

ESPNF1