Nico Rosberg pipped team-mate Lewis Hamilton to pole position for the Brazilian Grand Prix with a last gasp effort in qualifying at Interlagos.

The Mercedes duo were locked in a fight for pole with Hamilton holding the position until Rosberg eclipsed the Brit’s time by just 0.033s on his final run.

It is the second time inside a week that the German has edged his title rival to pole as the battle for the world championship continues to simmer.

The German driver’s 10th pole position of the season saw him claim Formula 1’s inaugural pole position trophy.

Local hero Felipe Massa will start from third on the grid with the Williams driver just a little over two tenths adrift of Rosberg’s benchmark time.

Williams completed a lockout of the second row with Valtteri Bottas a fraction slower than his team-mate Massa in fourth.

McLaren’s Jenson Button enjoyed a strong run in the final part of qualifying which earned him fifth spot on the grid alongside the Red Bull of reigning world champion Sebastian Vettel.

Kevin Magnussen was unable to match the pace of his more experienced team-mate leaving the Dane in seventh just ahead of Ferrari’s Fernando Alonso, who completed just one run in Q3.

Kimi Raikkonen and Red Bull’s Daniel Ricciardo rounded out the top 10 with the Australian struggling to find outright pace in qualifying.

Esteban Gutierrez, who is now without a drive for next season, produced a strong showing to secure 11th for Sauber.

Force India proved to be the slowest Mercedes powered squad with Nico Hulkenberg 12th and Sergio Perez failing to progress to Q2.

The Mexican will start from the back of the grid after being awarded a seven place grid drop for a collision with Adrian Sutil at Austin last week.

Toro Rosso’s Daniil Kvyat had qualified in 14th position but a penalty carried over from the United States GP for a change of engine will see him demoted to 17th on the grid.

Brazilian Grand Prix Qualifying Result