Valtteri Bottas capitalised on an uncharacteristic blunder from Mercedes team-mate Lewis Hamilton to take a morale-boosting pole position for the Brazilian Grand Prix.

World champion Hamilton was the favourite for pole position after dominating on Friday, but dramatically crashed out on his first timed lap, sliding into the barriers after losing the rear at Turn 6.

The accident, which will see the Briton start Sunday's race the back of the grid, set up a three-way fight for pole position between Bottas, Sebastian Vettel and Kimi Raikkonen.

Vettel topped Q2 and grabbed provisional pole position on his first run in Q3, but Bottas delivered a 1:08.322s at the death to beat the German by just under four-hundredths of a second.

Bottas roared in jubilation over the radio, having claimed his first pole since Austria and out-qualified Hamilton for the first time since the summer break.

Kimi Raikkonen will start from third after lapping two tenths slower than the leading duo, with Max Verstappen joining him on the second row.

Daniel Ricciardo qualified fifth ahead of Force India's Sergio Perez but will start from P15 at best after incurring an engine penalty.

Fernando Alonso will line up sixth after another impressive qualifying performance, with Renault pair Nico Hulkenberg and Carlos Sainz and home favourite Felipe Massa rounding out the top ten.

It was a disappointing day for Esteban Ocon, who was forced to settle for P11, while Haas' Romain Grosjean was also dumped out at the second hurdle. 

Stoffel Vandoorne wound up 13th ahead of Kevin Magnussen and Brendon Hartley, who managed to out-qualify team-mate Pierre Gasly on a turgid weekend for Toro Rosso.

Pascal Wehrlein missed out on a Q2 berth by a fraction but did out-pace Gasly, the struggling Williams of Lance Stroll and Marcus Ericsson. 

The two Toro Rossos will join Hamilton at the foot of the field.