Hamilton edges Vettel to capture pole for Brazilian Grand Prix

Lewis Hamilton edged Sebastian Vettel to grab pole position in qualifying for Sunday's Brazilian Grand Prix.

The Mercedes driver, who has clinched a fifth Formula One drivers' title, saved his best for the last session to finish just 0.093 seconds ahead of Vettel.

Hamilton's Mercedes team-mate Valtteri Bottas was third and will line up on the grid alongside Ferrari's Kimi Raikkonen after a session in which teams had to contend with the threat of rain.

It was Hamilton's 10th pole of the season and the 82nd of his career as Mercedes enjoyed a fifth straight pole in Interlagos and its 100th in all as it attempts also to make sure of the constructors' title.

"That was a tough qualifying," said Hamilton who has yet to win a race after sealing the championship.

"With the rain, we didn't know what to expect. Ferrari are incredibly quick this weekend. The last lap wasn't that great to be honest so I was so grateful to hear that I had pole."

However, both Hamilton and Vettel were involved in incidents which led to a gird penalty for the German.

A slow-moving Hamilton nearly drove into the passing Sergey Sirotkin's Williams during Q2 when the Russian had to swerve to avoid a collision.

The Briton then appeared to veer towards Raikkonen, telling his team he didn't know which way the Finn was going.

Vettel meanwhile showed impatience after his car was chosen for the weigh bridge during Q2 when the German allegedly failed to turn his engine off and damaged the scales as he drove off.

"I think it's better if I don't say anything. They shouldn't call us in (for weighing) when the conditions are changing like that," Vettel said. "To call someone in, I think it isn't fair and I wanted them to hurry up."

Vettel was handed a reprimand and a 25,000-euro fine for the incident at the weigh brige, according to the international motorsport federation FIA.

He had "refused to turn off the engine" and was weighed with the running engine which makes it difficult to get a stable result.

"After weighing the driver drove off the scale under its own power and by doing so, he destroyed the scales," the statement said.

Behind the leading four were the Red Bulls of Max Verstappen and Daniel Ricciardo, with the Saubers of Marcus Ericsson and Charles Leclerc, Romain Grosjean in a Haas and Pierre Gasly in a Toro Rosso completing the top 10 positions.

Ricciardo, however, has a five-place grid penalty for a engine changes to put him back to 11th.

Kevin Magnussen in a Haas, Force India duo Sergio Perez and Esteban Ocon, Renault's Nico Huelkenberg and Sirotkin missed in the cut in the second qualifying session

Carlos Sainz (Renault), Brendon Hartley (Toro Rosso), Fernando Alonso (McLaren), Lance Stroll (Williams) and Stoffel Vandoorne (McLaren) went out in Q1.

While Hamilton has already captured his fifth Formula One drivers' title, Mercedes are out to clinch the constructors' crown in the season's penultimate race.

Mercedes have a 55-point advantage over Ferrari and need to be 43 points ahead by the end of Sunday's race to make sure of the title before the season's final grand prix in Abu Dhabi on November 25.