Nico Rosberg says Lewis Hamilton's F1 pole time wasn’t possible

Hamilton took pole position by 0.303s ahead of Rosberg, with the championship leader comfortably ahead of the rest of the field for a race where he only needs to finish third to seal the title even if Hamilton wins.

"I've come here to try and be on pole and try and win the race," said Rosberg.

"I'm not ecstatic today, Lewis just did a good job and was a couple of tenths quicker.

"It wasn't possible for me to do that time today, even though I tried everything.

"But there are opportunities tomorrow and I'll go for it."

Rosberg said he was happy with how his car felt in qualifying, and he declined to discuss his thoughts about how to approach the race given that he doesn't need to beat Hamilton to take the crown.

"It was feeling good out there, I had a great balance so I was feeling quite pleased.

"As qualifying went on it felt better and better - I got a good lap in the end but it wasn't good enough.

"Let's do the race and see how it goes, then we can talk about it as much as you want.

"It's been a great year, my best so far. I'm proud of the season.

"I just keep it simple and don't think about what ifs, all those kinds of things."

Hamilton added that up to now his focus for the weekend had purely been on getting pole position.

"This evening or tomorrow, I'll sit with my engineers and strategists to fully understand the scenarios and what I've got to do," he said.

"I want to get away and win this race. I feel great in the car.

"I have always said, if I have performed at my best, I can walk away proud.

"I'm sitting on pole so I feel energetic, confident. I have everything to gain tomorrow."