Brawn GP's Rubens Barrichello took pole position in the rain delayed qualifying session at the Interlagos circuit in Sao Paulo today ahead of his home race, the Brazilian Grand Prix, with team-mate Jenson Button qualifying in 14th position on the grid.

Heavy rain showers left the track deluged with water and qualifying was subject to several lengthy delays. Running on the Bridgestone Potenza wet tyres, Rubens and Jenson progressed easily through Q1 in fifth and six positions respectively.

A delayed Q2 saw a slightly drier track and after some set-up changes to his car, Jenson suffered with understeer and a lack of rear grip which left him without the pace necessary to progress to the next session, with Rubens going through in 10th place.

A great drive in Q3 saw Rubens put his Brawn-Mercedes car at the top of the timesheets for his first pole position of the year

"I'm so happy to have qualified on pole for my home Grand Prix today particularly after such an unusual qualifying session. It's the first time in seventeen years that I've got out of the car twice during qualifying!” Rubens said. “I'm very proud of what we achieved today. We were lucky to make it through Q2 when we should have gone for intermediates but it was a great drive in Q3. It's a good situation to be starting from the front and have your own race pace rather than be in the pack. However the job is only half done and I'm keeping my feet firmly on the ground and just focusing on having a good race tomorrow. It's great for all the fans at Interlagos who sat through all the rain delays and kept supporting me to have a Brazilian starting from the front tomorrow."