Lewis Hamilton will start on pole position for the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix after dominating every part of qualifying at the Yas Marina Circuit.
Hamilton will start on pole for the third time in Abu Dhabi. The reigning champion will start ahead of title rival Rosberg, who was three-tenths off in second.
Daniel Ricciardo was best of the rest ahead of Kimi Raikkonen, Sebastian Vettel and Max Verstappen.
Nico Hulkenberg was ahead of Sergio Perez with Fernando Alonso and Felipe Massa rounding out the top 10.
Hamilton laid down the benchmark with an astonishing lap of a 1m39.487s which was one-second clear of Rosberg who made several mistakes on his first attempt in Q1.
Q1 proved to be a difficult session for both Toro Rosso drivers. Both Carlos Sainz and Daniil Kvyat failed to make it in Q2 after their practice running was disrupted heavily due to several punctures. Joining Kvyat and Sainz in not making Q2 was Kevin Magnussen, Felipe Nasr, Esteban Ocon and Marcus Ericsson.
Pascal Wehrlein and Jolyon Palmer fared much better than their respective teammates and progressed into Q2. The duo will start 16th and 15th respectively.
The second part of qualifying was another session led by Hamilton. This time, however, Rosberg managed to put a strong lap together to go second just a tenth off. Both Red Bull drivers opted to set their best times on the red-marked supersoft tyres and safely progressed, this means both Verstappen and Ricciardo will start on the more durable tyre in Sunday’s race.
Valtteri Bottas was unable to match his teammate’s pace in Q2 and failed to progress. Jenson Button, Esteban Gutierrez, Romain Grosjean, Palmer and Wehrlein also failed to make Q3.
The final part of qualifying saw Hamilton take to the circuit first and that’s where he ended. Despite being slower in S1 than Rosberg on both laps, the Brit’s second and third sectors were fantastic as he stormed to his 61st pole position.
Rosberg will start second ahead of Ricciardo albeit eight-tenths off pole position. The Ferraris of Raikkonen and Vettel were just a tenth off Ricciardo. Verstappen will start sixth ahead of Hulkenberg. Perez led Alonso and Massa, who will start 10th on his 250th and final Grand Prix.
