Rosberg on pole in shortened qualifying

Nico Rosberg took pole position by a tenth of a second to Lewis Hamilton for the United States Grand Prix. The session was delayed to Sunday morning due to the rain on Saturday, but only Q1 and Q2 took place as the heavy rain came down just at the end of the second session.

Given the brief window to complete qualifying, the final session did not take place and the grid was decided by the times from Q2.

Red Bull locked out the second row as the RB11 came alive in the wet conditions. The team decided not to take Renault’s new upgraded power unit for this weekend, which has now proven to be the best decision. Daniel Ricciardo looked as though he could challenge for pole in Q1, but he was over a second down on polesitter Rosberg in Q2.

Sebastian Vettel qualified 5th but will start 14th having received a 10-place grid penalty for a planned change of his internal combustion engine, his fifth ICE of the season. The German very nearly didn’t make it into Q2 when he aquaplaned at turn 10 and touched the barrier, which meant he was in the pits when the track was at its best at the end of the session. He made it through by one position.

Team mate Kimi Raikkonen was 8th but he has the same penalty as his team mate so will start 18th.

Force India got both cars in the top 10 with Sergio Perez 5th ahead of team mate Nico Hulkenberg in 6th. The car was showing strong pace in the tricky conditions, well and truly outshining their midfield competitors.

Felipe Massa will start 7th with Valtteri Bottas in 10th, but qualified 12th. The Finn said he had a rear suspension failure at the end of Q2 which stopped him making the top 10 in the session. The Williams traditionally does not perform well in the wet, given their low-drag aero package, which could see them struggle in the race.

Max Verstappen qualified 10th but has been elevated to 8th, with Fernando Alonso just behind running the new upgraded Honda power unit. Jenson Button is still using the old one; he starts 12th in between the two Lotus cars.

Sauber failed to get out of the first session. Marcus Ericsson outqualified Felipe Nasr, with the two Manor cars just behind. Alexander Rossi will start ahead of his team mate Will Stevens for his home race.

Carlos Sainz Jr brings up the rear of the field after he crashed early in qualifying at turn 3. It’ll be touch and go for the mechanics to get the car repaired in time for the race.

Provisional grid

1. Nico Rosberg – Mercedes – 1:56.824

2. Lewis Hamilton – Mercedes – 1:56.929

3. Daniel Ricciardo – Red Bull – 1:57.969

4. Daniil Kvyat – Red Bull – 1:58.434

5. Sergio Perez – Force India – 1:59.210

6. Nico Hulkenberg – Force India – 1:59.333

7. Felipe Massa – Williams – 1:59.999

8. Max Verstappen – Toro Rosso – 2:00.199

9. Fernando Alonso – McLaren – 2:00.265

10. Valtteri Bottas – Williams – 2:00.334

11. Romain Grosjean – Lotus – 2:00.595

12. Jenson Button – McLaren – 2:01.193

13. Pastor Maldonado – Lotus – 2:01.604

14. Sebastian Vettel – Ferrari – 1:58.596 (10-place engine penalty)

15. Marcus Ericsson – Sauber – 2:02.21

16. ​Felipe Nasr – Sauber – 2:03.194

17. Alexander Rossi – Manor – 2:04.176

18. Kimi Raikkonen – Ferrari – 1:59.703 (10-place engine penalty)

19. Will Stevens – Manor – 2:04.526

20. Carlos Sainz – Toro Rosso – 2:07.304​

#f1