Nico Rosberg claims Pole Position for the US GP in a shortened session

In qualifying in Austin on Sunday afternoon, Mercedes driver Nico Rosberg topped the timesheets ahead of his championship rival Lewis Hamilton and Daniel Ricciardo in a session that was shortened due to the weather conditions in Texas once again.

With the weather in Austin still not improving; many thought that the session wouldn't be going ahead on safety grounds. However, the FIA announced shortly before the session began that the session would go ahead as planned; even if we may not see much action on the track.

Qualifying for the US GP was delayed until Sunday morning after heavy rain washed out Saturday afternoon’s planned track action, but worsening conditions through Sunday morning meant the session had to be suspended after Q2.

During Q1, Toro Rosso rookie Carlos Sainz Jr lost the rear of his Toro Rosso over the kerb at Turn 3, before crashing hard into the barriers on the outside of Turn 4 and causing the session to be stopped while marshals recovered his broken STR10. Sainz Jr will need permission to start the race from the back of the grid after failing to set a time fast enough to make the 107 per cent cut-off.

After the session resumed, Sebastian Vettel’s Ferrari glanced the barriers following a spin at Turn 10 and the four-time world champion tumbled down the timesheet as others gradually improved their times.

But it was Nico Rosberg who topped the timesheets with a lap time of 1.59.517 ahead of Lewis Hamilton in second place who was 0.863 seconds behind him but was ahead of Daniel Ricciardo who qualified in a great third place who was 0.979 seconds behind the Mercedes of Rosberg.

Daniil Kvyat qualified the session in fourth place ahead of Sergio Perez in fifth place, Nico Hulkenberg in sixth place and Felipe Massa in seventh place. Max Verstappen ended qualifying in eighth place ahead of Fernando Alonso in ninth place and Romain Grosjean who rounds off the top ten finishers.

Jenson Button qualified in eleventh place ahead of Pastor Maldonado in twelfth place, Sebastian Vettel in thirteenth place, Marcus Ericsson in fourteenth place and ahead of Felipe Nasr in fifteenth place. As we head into the latter stages of the grid, Valtteri Bottas finished in sixteenth place ahead of Alexander Rossi in seventeenth place, Kimi Raikkonen in eighteenth place, Will Stevens in nineteenth place and Carlos Sainz Jr who rounded off the grid in twentieth place.

The classification of Qualifying for the United States GP is as follows:-

1. Nico Rosberg, Mercedes, 1.56.824
2. Lewis Hamilton, Mercedes, 0.105s
3. Daniel Ricciardo, Red Bull-Renault, 1.145s
4. Daniil Kvyat, Red Bull Renault, 1.610s
5. Sergio Perez, Force India-Mercedes, 2.386s
6. Nico Hulkenberg, Force India-Mercedes, 2.509s
7. Felipe Massa, Williams-Mercedes, 3.175s
8. Max Verstappen, Toro Rosso, 3.375s
9. Fernando Alonso, McLaren-Honda, 3.411s
10. Romain Grosjean, Lotus-Mercedes, 3.771s
11. Jenson Button, McLaren-Honda, 2.01.193
12. Pastor Maldonado, Lotus-Mercedes, 2.01.604
13. Sebastian Vettel, Ferrari, 1.58.596
14. Marcus Ericsson, Sauber-Ferrari, 2.02.212
15. Felipe Nasr, Sauber-Ferrari, 2.03.194
16. Valtteri Bottas, Williams-Mercedes, 2.00.334
17. Alexander Rossi, Manor, 2.04.176
18. Kimi Raikkonen, Ferrari, 1.59.703
19. Will Stevens, Manor, 2.04.526
20. Carlos Sainz Jr, Toro Rosso, 2.07.304

[Kimi Raikkonen and Sebastian Vettel will take ten place grid penalties after qualifying for changing their engines].
[Valtteri Bottas also receives a five place grid penalty].

Sarah Jones- @jonesy_laaa