Hamilton claims Mercedes' 100th pole position

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Record-breaking Lewis Hamilton claimed his 10th pole of the season and Mercedes' 100th in Formula One on Saturday when he dominated a rain-threatened qualifying session for Sunday's Brazilian Grand Prix.

The new five-time world champion clocked a track record best lap in one minute and 7.281 seconds on his second run in the final session to boost his hopes of a rare Interlagos victory and Mercedes bid for a fifth straight teams' title.

That lifted him clear of Sebastian Vettel of Ferrari by almost one-tenth of a second with his Mercedes team-mate Valtteri Bottas, who took pole last year, third ahead of Kimi Raikkonen in the second Ferrari.

Mercedes' British driver Lewis Hamilton gets out of his car at the pits at the Interlagos Racetrack in Sao Paulo, Brazil, November 10, 2018. /VCG Photo

The leading four drivers were scrapping for any advantage for their teams as Ferrari bid to out-score Mercedes by 13 points to keep alive their bid to stop them retaining the constructors' championship.

It was a record-increasing 82nd pole for Hamilton, who has won only once in Brazil, in 2016, and the first time he has taken a pole position in any races after he has won the championship.

Max Verstappen was fifth ahead of his Red Bull team-mate Daniel Ricciardo, Marcus Ericsson and his Sauber team-mate Charles Leclerc, Romain Grosjean of Haas and Pierre Gasly of Toro Rosso.

Source(s): AFP