But stewards allowed them to keep their positions for Sunday’s race due to the exceptional circumstances, leaving the grid unchanged, with world championship leader Rosberg on top ahead of title rival Lewis Hamilton who was hindered by yellow flags at the critical point of the stop-start day.
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Lewis Hamilton has apologised to his Mercedes team after his bid to take charge of the Formula One championship hit a minor bump when he crashed out of practice for the Hungarian Grand Prix on Friday.
Qualifying finished nearly an hour later than scheduled after heavy rainfall delayed a red flag-packed Q1 by 20 minutes, but it was a yellow flag in the final moments of the afternoon that proved decisive. The drivers were warned as they went out there that another heavy downpour was imminent – so they should get a quick lap on the board as soon as possible.
Behind, Max Verstappen missed the chequered flag at the end of Q3 and was unable to do his final run, but will still start alongside his Red Bull team-mate on the second row.
Replays seemed to show that Rosberg’s last and fastest lap included a stretch while yellow caution flags were out, after a spin by McLaren’s Fernando Alonso.
Rosberg lapped in one minute 19.965 seconds to grab the pole. In reality, however, both can be waived by the FIA at any time, and since its reinstatement, the 107 Percent Rule has been waived more than it’s been enforced.
“It was unbelievable, it was just changing all the time, and so many things happened, even just getting that gap at the end of the lap was hard”, Rosberg further commented.
“This is generally a great race, I hope there are lots of opportunities for me”.
“Nico has been a core member of the Silver Arrows since the team returned to the sport in 2010 and has played a crucial role in the team’s success in that time”, said a team statement.
“It was a bit unfortunate with Fernando but these things happen. I’m sure that’ll be ok”, said Rosberg afterwards.
The early mixed conditions advantaged the team’s high-downforce auto, but it looked equally happy on the rapidly evolving dry circuit at the end of Q3.
Rosberg slowed for the flag but was allowed to reaccelerate and complete his lap.
“I felt good on my final lap and was four tenths up”, he said. They need to be in control and they need to be able to judge what speed is appropriate for the circumstances and I think we can trust them’. “It was fun, it was challenging”.
And the German, who has extended his stay with Mercedes until the end of 2018 by signing a new two-year deal, led the way once more on Saturday morning.
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Spaniards Carlos Sainz of Toro Rosso and Alonso were sixth and seventh ahead of Briton Jenson Button in the second McLaren, Nico Hulkenberg of Force India and Valtteri Bottas of Williams, who was 10th fastest.
