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Rosberg pips Hamilton again in Japanese qualifying

Third time in a row Rosberg on pole in Japan, though Hamilton won last two races

Pole sitter German Formula One driver Nico Rosberg (C) of Mercedes AMG GP waves to the crowd with second placed Lewis Hamilton (L) of Mercedes AMG GP and Kimi Raikkonen Scuderia Ferrari at the end of the qualifying session for the Japanese Formula One Grand Prix at the Suzuka Circuit in Suzuka, central Japan. Photo: PA
Pole sitter German Formula One driver Nico Rosberg (C) of Mercedes AMG GP waves to the crowd with second placed Lewis Hamilton (L) of Mercedes AMG GP and Kimi Raikkonen Scuderia Ferrari at the end of the qualifying session for the Japanese Formula One Grand Prix at the Suzuka Circuit in Suzuka, central Japan. Photo: PA
Paul Weaver at Suzuka
Sat Oct 08 2016 - 10:37

Lewis Hamilton continued to be second best to his Mercedes teammate Nico Rosberg here on Saturday as he won pole position for the Japanese Grand Prix.

It was the third time in a row that he had won pole here – though Hamilton won the race in 2014 and 2015. But this time it was so close, with Rosberg edging home by just 0.013s ahead of his great rival.

Rosberg, who had also finished top of the final practice session in the morning to make it a clean sweep over the weekend, said: “I’m happy with the result. I was going well the whole weekend. I had a good balance, feeling good and feeling comfortable. That’s what allows me to put in a lap like that.” It was the 30th pole of his career.

Hamilton added: “I’m happy with qualifying. It has been a weekend of a lot of work trying to get the set-up right. There were big changes before qualifying and considering that I am very happy with it. I did as well as I could. History has shown you don’t have to be on pole to get the win but Nico has done a great job all weekend.”

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Rosberg had been faster than Hamilton in Q1 and Q2, although in the first session the British driver had been slowed by errant Renault.

Ferrari’s Kimi Raikkonen was third, with teammate Sebastian Vettel fourth, though the German will start in seventh because he has a three-place grid penalty.

Q1 saw off Jenson Button, who counts this among his favourite circuits. “All weekend it’s been a struggle for me,” Button said.

“This morning we had an issue with a power until that they promised to fix and they did, but we were three hundredths down. You always hope for a lot at Honda’s home race.”

But there was better news for Jolyon Palmer, who at one stage was 12th fastest. He went through to Q2, while team-mate Kevin Magnussen fell at the first hurdle.

(Guardian service)