Nico Rosberg extended his streak of pole positions to six when he edged Mercedes teammate lewis Hamilton in Saturday’s qualifying for the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix.
Rosberg’s final lap was 0.377 of a second faster than Hamilton at Yas Marina circuit, and he became the eighth man in Formula One history to record six straight poles. The all-time record is eight, set by Ayrton Senna over the 1988 and 1989 seasons.
It was the 15th time this season that Mercedes had locked out the front row of the grid, establishing a new F1 record.
Ferrari’s Kimi Raikkonen was third but his teammate Sebastian Vettel was down in 16th after the team miscalculated its tire allocation.
Force India’s Sergio Perez will start from fourth on the grid in Sunday’s race ahead of Red Bull’s Daniel Ricciardo and Williams driver Valtteri Bottas.
Completing the top ten were: Force India’s Nico Hulkenberg, Felipe Massa of Williams, Daniil Kvyat of Red Bull and Toro Rosso’s Carlos Sainz Jr.
Hamilton has already secured the drivers’ championship but has been off the pace of Rosberg late in the season, with the German aiming for a hat trick of wins on Sunday.
Rosberg said “it’s not a revival, and I have not reinvented anything.”
“Before it was close in one direction, now it is quicker in this direction,” Rosberg said.
Both Force India drivers in top-10
Sahara Force India are looking good for a strong result after Sergio Perez and Nico Hulkenberg set the fourth and seventh fastest time in the qualifying.
Perez produced a hot lap of 1:41.184 to equal his best qualifying result of his Formula One career.
Force India, who have already secured a best-ever fifth place in the team standings, can expect a bagful of points in what would be their 150th race on Sunday