Nico Rosberg out-qualified his Mercedes teammate Lewis Hamilton to claim pole for the Russian Grand Prix at Sochi on Saturday.
Rosberg, trailing Hamilton by 48 points in the world championship, claimed his third pole of the season by three hundredths of a second.
Valtteri Bottas in a Williams took third, with former world champion Sebastien Vettel’s Ferrari sharing second row with the Finn after finishing fourth.
Rosberg was securing back to back poles after topping qualifying last time out in Japan where he had to settle for second behind Hamilton.