Sao Paulo, Brazil - Championship-chasing Rubens Barrichello delighted the home fans on Saturday as he took pole in chaotic conditions for Sunday's Brazilian Grand Prix. His pole position is even more important as the championship leader and Brawn GP team-mate Jenson Button managed only the 14th- fastest time.
Ahead of the second-last race of the season Barrichello, who posted a time of 1 minute 19.576 seconds for the 4.309 kilometre-long Interlagos circuit, trails Button by 15 points.
There was also disappointment for Sebastian Vettel, who also still has a chance to win the championship.
In a qualifying session which had to be interrupted several times due to adverse weather conditions and a crash, the German Red Bull driver failed to qualify for the second session and will start from 16th on the grid.
Red Bull's Mark Webber, who questioned the decision to go ahead with the qualifying session, had the second-fastest time, while Force India's Adrian Sutil will start from third on the grid, alongside Toyota's Jarno Trulli.
Ferrari's Kimi Raikkonen and Sebastien Buemi in a Toro Rosso are on the third row of the grid, while Williams' Nico Rosberg and Robert Kubica in a BMW-Sauber will start from seventh and eighth place respectively.
The final qualifiers in the top ten are Kazuki Nakajima in a Williams and Fernando Alonso in his Renault.