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Nico Rosberg has narrowly beat Mercedes team mate Lewis Hamilton to pole position for the Japanese Grand Prix.
The German's lap of one minute, 30.647 seconds was less than two hundredths of a second quicker than Hamilton, equating to just 82 centimetres on track.
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Kimi Raikkonen, who has been on fine form all weekend, was third - three tenths of a second back from Rosberg. His Ferrari team mate Sebastian Vettel set the fourth fastest time, but sill start from seventh position after his grid penalty for the start incident in Malaysia.
Max Verstappen out-qualified team mate Daniel Ricciardo for the second consecutive event as the Red Bull duo locked up fifth and sixth places.
Sergio Perez was seventh, ahead of Haas' Romain Grosjean and Nico Hulkenberg in the other Force India.
In tenth place was Esteban Gutierrez, marking the first time in their short history that both Haas cars have made their way into the top 10 in qualifying.
Q2 saw both Williams drivers exit, denting their hopes in the fight for fourth in the championship with force India. Valtteri Bottas was eleventh, with Felipe Massa in 12th. They were ahead of the Toro Rossos of Daniil Kvyat and Carlos Sainz - who spun on his final hotlap.
Fernando Alonso was the highest placed McLaren in 15th on what was a tough day for them on the home turf of engine partner Honda. Jenson Button was two places back in 17th, after being knocked out in the first part of qualifying. The two McLaren drivers were split by Renault's Jolyon Palmer.
Kevin Magnussen in the other Renault was 18th, with both Saubers and both Manors completing the field.
Circuit Suzuka - 08 October 2016
Azerbaijan Grand Prix
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Well done Nico! A bit unexpected with Haas, I must say, but I wonder if they can keep that up in the race.