Lewis Hamilton claimed a potentially valuable pole position for the season-ending Abu Dhabi Grand Prix, but Nico Rosberg remains favourite to secure the world title after taking second behind his Mercedes team-mate.
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Rosberg leads the drivers' standings by 12 points from Hamilton and knows a top-three finish on Sunday will secure a maiden crown regardless of the reigning champion's result.
Although Hamilton proved the class of the field in qualifying on Saturday, comfortably topping the standings with a time of one minute and 38.755 seconds, his rival crucially remained ahead of the Red Bulls and Ferraris as he completed a 15th Mercedes front-row lock-out in 2016.
Rosberg was three-tenths of a second adrift of Hamilton's blistering pace, but the German will take heart from the fact he was not challenged for second in Q3 .
Daniel Ricciardo (+0.834secs) edged out Kimi Raikkonen (+0.849s) for third, with Sebastian Vettel and Max Verstappen close behind.
Intriguingly, the two Red Bull drivers were sent out on super-soft tyres for Q2 — meaning they will theoretically be capable of longer first stints in Sunday's race.
Hamilton — the winner of the last three races — could hardly have done more to lay down a marker on Saturday, recording the quickest time in all three sessions.
Felipe Massa qualified in 10th for his final Grand Prix , while Jenson Button will start 12th in what is also expected to be his last outing .
Provisional classification
1. Lewis Hamilton (Mercedes) 1:38.755s
2. Nico Rosberg (Mercedes) 1.39.058s
3. Daniel Ricciardo (Red Bull) 1:39.589s
4. Kimi Raikkonen (Ferrari) 1:39.604s
5. Sebastian Vettel (Ferrari) 1:39.661s
6. Max Verstappen (Red Bull) 1:39.818s
7. Nico Hulkenberg (Force India) 1:40.501s
8. Sergio Perez (Force India) 1:40.519s
9. Fernando Alonso (McLaren) 1:41.106s
10. Felipe Massa (Williams) 1:41.213s
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