SAO PAULO (REUTERS) - Nico Rosberg took his fifth successive pole position on Saturday with Mercedes team mate and triple Formula One world champion Lewis Hamilton qualifying alongside on the front row for the Brazilian Grand Prix.

The German denied Hamilton, who won his third championship in Texas last month with three races to spare, a 50th career pole by a mere 0.078 of a second on a sunny afternoon at Interlagos.

Ferrari's Sebastian Vettel qualified third and will be joined on the second row by team mate Kimi Raikkonen because Williams driver Valtteri Bottas, who was fourth fastest, has a three place grid penalty.

Rosberg won from pole last year in Brazil, the penultimate round of the season, while Hamilton has never won in eight attempts in the home of his late boyhood idol Ayrton Senna.