Hamilton fourth on grid as Massa takes pole

Lewis Hamilton will start the most important grand prix of his Formula One career from a surprisingly lowly fourth on the grid.

Hamilton finished half a second down on world title rival Felipe Massa at the end of qualifying for tomorrow's Brazilian Grand Prix.

On home soil Massa thrilled his army of fans by clinching pole for the third successive year at Interlagos, with Toyota's Jarno Trulli and Massa's Ferrari team-mate Kimi Raikkonen also ahead of Hamilton.

It was the first time any driver has taken three successive poles on this track, even eclipsing the legendary Ayrton Senna.

Massa, who trails Hamilton by seven points going into the title-deciding showdown, now has the perfect launchpad to overhaul the 23-year-old McLaren driver.

Hamilton, who has to finish in the top five to take the title, at least has his own team-mate in Heikki Kovalainen behind him ahead of Renault's Fernando Alonso.

Sebastian Vettel starts seventh for Toro Rosso, with Nick Heidfeld eighth in his BMW Sauber, followed by the second Toro Rosso of Sebastien Bourdais and Toyota's Timo Glock.

There was appreciably a sense of expectation amongst the Brazilian fans packed inside Interlagos, one of F1's truly great venues.

In the minutes building up to the start, every time Massa was seen on the giant screens there were raucous cheers.

Contrast that with when Hamilton was viewed as he was greeted with jeers and whistles, although hardly venomous, more due to the fact he is their hero's only rival for the title.

Every time he roared down the start-finish straight there was a crescendo of noise from his supporters to accompany that of his Ferrari engine.

That was evident when he set the fastest time in Q1, finishing a considerable three tenths of a second quicker than Hamilton, and even more so at the death when they knew he had taken pole.

Nelson Piquet, whitewashed in qualifying this season by Alonso, is 11th in front of his own fans, with the Red Bulls of Mark Webber and David Coulthard either side of BMW Sauber's Robert Kubica.

The Pole appears to have given up in the last two races as he had previously qualified for Q3 in the previous 16 grands prix, only to end the season with his lowest grid slot of the year.

As for Coulthard, he has now completed his final qualifying session of his F1 career as he bows out tomorrow after 15 seasons and 246 races.

To mark the occasion of his retirement, his car is this weekend sporting a special cream coloured livery in aid of the 'Wings For Life' charity that supports spinal injuries.

Rubens Barrichello, potentially involved in his final qualifying session as Honda have yet to confirm their line-up for next year, lines up 15th on the grid on his home track.

Disappointingly, Jenson Button starts from 17th, but unsurprising given he has now made it out of Q1 just once in the last seven races, losing out to Barrichello for the 10th time in 18 races.

The Briton, who ended the 20-minute session with his Honda parked at the Arquibancadas turn due to a mechanical issue, finds himself sandwiched by the Williams duo of Kazuki Nakajima and Nico Rosberg.

Nakajima starts 16th, with Rosberg equalling his season worst of 18th, whilst the Force India duo of Giancarlo Fisichella and Adrian Sutil are again at the rear.

A beaming Massa said: "It's great for us to come here and see so many people who love what we are doing.

"It's difficult to describe in a single word my feeling, but also in racing for a fantastic team which is very emotional for me and who are working hard.

"But I have a fantastic family and friends. It is a dream come true.

"It's a great start to the weekend. We have 71 laps ahead of us which is pretty long, but it is always better to start at the front.

"We proved our car is very competitive in practice and we showed that again in the qualifying

"I will now try to do my best to win the race, which is the most important thing."

Starting on the front row for Toyota for the first time in 55 races going back to Japan 2005, Trulli conceded he almost did not make it through to today due to being laid low with a fever yesterday.

"I was feeling really bad, but I have to thank the team and the doctor for helping me and to make me very quick in the car," said the 34-year-old Italian.

"I really played my cards in qualifying, saving tyres and getting ready for Q3, so I'm really happy for the team, for everybody.

"It shows the progress we have made this season."

Outgoing champion Raikkonen is now in the perfect position to help Massa succeed him as champion given the McLarens are behind him.

"I did more or less what I was supposed to do," said Raikkonen.

"I prefer to be third than second, and hopefully we can get a good start and then pull away because that would be perfect for the team.

"But our only chance will be to finish first and second, whilst hoping for a bit of luck from the outside."