Nico Rosberg took first blood on Saturday by securing pole position for the 2014 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix – the last race of the season and the title decider.
The German beat team-mate and title rival Lewis Hamilton by almost four-tenths as Hamilton’s Q3 laps looked scrappy, but managed to secure second from Williams’s Valtteri Bottas and therefore starts in a good position to secure the title as long as he can maintain second.
The second Williams of Felipe Massa was fourth ahead of both Red Bulls, led by Daniel Ricciardo whose margin to Sebastian Vettel was an impressive six-tenths.
Kimi Raikkonen came in behind Daniil Kvyat and Jenson Button to outqualify team-mate Fernando Alonso in tenth.
Meanwhile at the back of the grid, Will Stevens made his qualifying debut and managed to get within half a second of the much experienced Kamui Kobayashi.
Qualifying – 2014 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix
| # | No | Driver | Team | Q1 | Q2 | Q3 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 01 | 6 | Nico Rosberg | Mercedes | 1:41.308 | 1:41.459 | 1:40.480 |
| 02 | 44 | Lewis Hamilton | Mercedes | 1:41.207 | 1:40.920 | 1:40.866 |
| 03 | 77 | Valtteri Bottas | Williams | 1:42.346 | 1:41.376 | 1:41.025 |
| 04 | 19 | Felipe Massa | Williams | 1:41.475 | 1:41.144 | 1:41.119 |
| 05 | 3 | Daniel Ricciardo | Red Bull | 1:42.204 | 1:41.692 | 1:41.267 |
| 06 | 1 | Sebastian Vettel | Red Bull | 1:42.495 | 1:42.147 | 1:41.893 |
| 07 | 26 | Daniil Kvyat | Toro Rosso | 1:42.302 | 1:42.082 | 1:41.908 |
| 08 | 22 | Jenson Button | McLaren | 1:42.137 | 1:41.875 | 1:41.964 |
| 09 | 7 | Kimi Räikkönen | Ferrari | 1:42.439 | 1:42.168 | 1:42.236 |
| 10 | 14 | Fernando Alonso | Ferrari | 1:42.467 | 1:41.940 | 1:42.866 |
| 11 | 20 | Kevin Magnussen | McLaren | 1:42.104 | 1:42.198 | |
| 12 | 25 | Jean-Eric Vergne | Toro Rosso | 1:42.413 | 1:42.207 | |
| 13 | 11 | Sergio Perez | Force India | 1:42.654 | 1:42.239 | |
| 14 | 27 | Nico Hulkenberg | Force India | 1:42.444 | 1:42.384 | |
| 15 | 99 | Adrian Sutil | Sauber | 1:42.746 | 1:43.074 | |
| 16 | 8 | Romain Grosjean | Lotus | 1:42.768 | ||
| 17 | 21 | Esteban Gutierrez | Sauber | 1:42.819 | ||
| 18 | 13 | Pastor Maldonado | Lotus | 1:42.860 | ||
| 19 | 10 | Kamui Kobayashi | Caterham | 1:44.540 | ||
| 20 | 46 | Will Stevens | Caterham | 1:45.095 |
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