Britain's Lewis Hamilton crashed on Saturday in qualifying for the Formula 1 Brazil Grand Prix, meaning he will begin the race in Sao Paulo on Sunday in last position.

The 2017 world champion, who won his fourth title during the previous race in Mexico, was at the sixth corner of the track when he slid and crashed into a wall.

Hamilton walked away with no injuries but his car suffered severe damage. Since he crashed before completing the first lap, he will move to the back of the grid.

His Mercedes teammate, Finland's Valterri Bottas, took pole position with a time of 1:08.322, beating Sebastian Vettel, by 38 thousandths of a second on 1:08.360.

"I was very close with 'Seb' (Vettel) during all the sessions. Happily, I had a good last lap. It is a shame that Lewis (Hamilton) left (the track) but I am very happy with the work for the team," said Bottas, who also set a new track record.

He will be followed by Ferrari's Kimi Raikkonen in third and Red Bull's Max Verstappen in fourth.

Brazilian fans are expected to turn out to see their idol, Felipe Massa, race for the last time on home turf before he retired at the end of a season. He will take off in the ninth position.

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