F1 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix: Rosberg storms to sixth straight pole

While Mercedes AMG F1's Nico Rosberg would be wishing that it was six straight wins he was celebrating, qualifying on pole for the sixth consecutive Formula 1 race to end the 2015 season clearly meant a lot to the German. The German punched the air in delight after setting a lap of 1m40.237s around the 5.554km Yas Marina Circuit for the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix.

It was good enough to snatch pole position from teammate Lewis Hamilton by 0.377s right at the end of the third and final segment of qualifying after having trailed Hamilton in the previous two. A further 0.437s behind the second placed silver Mercedes was Kimi Raikkonen's scarlet Ferrari, ahead of one of the two big surprises of qualifying, Sergio Perez. The second big surprise was former four-time F1 champion Sebastian Vettel being knocked out in the very first segment of qualifying on account of Ferrari misjudging what time would have been safe for the German to have advanced to the next two sessions.

The uncharacteristically low 16th place in the standings should, however, make for some good entertainment as Vettel will surely work his way up the field, similar to the way he did in the 2012 edition of the race.

Raikkonen's third place on the grid and Valtteri Bottas' Williams-Mercedes in sixth is a boost to the 2007 F1 world champion's bid to stay ahead of his compatriot in the race for fourth place in the drivers' championship. Between the two are Perez's Force India-Mercedes, and Red Bull-Renault's Daniel Ricciardo.

Force India-Mercedes' Nico Hulkenberg, Bottas' teammate Felipe Massa, Ricciardo's teammate Daniil Kvyat and Toro Rosso-Renault's Carlos Sainz complete the top ten just ahead of the Spaniard's Dutch teammate Max Verstappen and a much improved McLaren-Honda driven by Jenson Button.