Rosberg takes pole for USGP

Hamilton in the horrible conditions

The rain was just too much. Standing water caused race stewards for the USGP to cancel Q3 qualifying. Rosberg's Q2 effort means he will start on pole ahead of Hamilton, Ricciardo and Kvyat.

Sebastian Vettel was 5th but will take a 10 place grid penalty because Ferrari put a new engine in his car. That elevates Force India teammates Perez and Hulkenberg to 5th and 6th on the grid.

With Ferrari driver Raikkonen also getting a 10-place grid penalty for an engine change, Massa moves up to seventh with Verstappen eighth and Alonso in ninth.

Nico Rosberg
I'm very happy with that pole – especially as I did my quickest lap on used tires. I wanted to be prepared for Q3 with a new set of full wets but, of course, that opportunity never came up as the rain increased suddenly and they had to abandon qualifying. It was very tricky out there with a lot of water on the track, so let's see what happens this afternoon with the weather. The car feels very strong and I'm feeling great around here in any conditions, so I really look forward to the race.

Lewis Hamilton
It was a generally a good qualifying session for me. I was looking to go out again at the end but then the rain came down heavier and of course Q3 was cancelled altogether. It was wetter at Turn 10 than everywhere else with loads of aquaplaning. We could maybe have gone out and seen if the track would dry up a bit – but it was incredibly tricky out there and you need to be very sensible in such situations. You're on tip-toes in these conditions and really you just have to try to keep going and bring the car round. I'm happy for the team to get the 1-2 and, as always, qualifying is just the beginning. The race will be long, long battle if the conditions stay like this.

Qualifying Results