Hamilton had been strong favourite for pole after topping all three practice sessions and Q2. A 1m35.782s on his first Q3 run emphasised that status, with Rosberg three tenths adrift at that point.

But it became closer in the final battle, with Hamilton unable to improve and Rosberg closing to within 0.042s.

Malaysian GP winner Sebastian Vettel was nearly a second off Hamilton’s pole time in third place for Ferrari. That denied the resurgent Williams of Felipe Massa and Valtteri Bottas, which were top-three contenders but ultimately found themselves three tenths and half a second down on Vettel respectively.

They still beat the second Ferrari of Kimi Raikkonen, who was sixth ahead of Red Bull’s Daniel Ricciardo.

Daniil Kvyat failed to reach Q3 for the second time in three appearances with Red Bull, taking 12th.

Romain Grosjean was eighth for Lotus, while his team-mate Pastor Maldonado missed out on Q3 by just 0.007s and will start 11th.

Sauber was the midfield underdog starring in Q3 this time, securing the fifth row places with Felipe Nasr and Marcus Ericsson.