Mercedes’ Nico Rosberg claims his sixth consecutive pole position at the Yas Marina Circuit in Abu Dhabi, ahead of team-mate Lewis Hamilton by almost four tenths. Kimi Raikkonen came in third, with Sergio Perez fourth.

For Nico Rosberg that’s a massive comeback in the final Grand Prix weekends of the year, and his sixth straight pole places him only two away from Ayrton Senna’s all-time record.

"Primarily I would just like to win tomorrow to give my crew a great end to the season and a reason to party," said Nico afterwards. "Of course, whatever we learn this year as well helps into next year as well - so it would be great to finish on a high."

Lewis Hamilton stated he had been struggling with the car all weekend long, but ultimately "Nico was just really quick today and he did a great job in Q3."

Third placed Kimi Raikkonen made his best qualifying of the year after problem-free practices to finish third and secure a second row start aiming high for tomorrow’s race.

It was quite the opposite for the Finn’s team-mate Sebastian Vettel, as he and Ferrari miscalculated and shockingly went out in Q1. Vettel said, "as a team we didn’t do the right decision today and that has a big consequence. But the race is tomorrow."

He was joined in early elimination by Fernando Alonso, who suffered a puncture; while Jenson Button managed to go into Q2 and nearly got into Q3.

Meanwhile, it was a great fifth place for Daniel Ricciardo, as the race line’s up to a great battle between Red Bull, Force India and Williams. And for Toro Rosso, Carlos Sainz was tenth - he wins the qualifying battle against team-mate Max Verstappen.