GRANOLLERS, Spain -- Nico Rosberg finally clinched his first pole position of the season at the Spanish Grand Prix on Saturday, ending his Mercedes teammate Lewis Hamilton's bid for a fifth consecutive qualifying win.
Rosberg had the fastest time in two of the three practice sessions this weekend, and continued that form with a dynamic drive in qualifying. The German finished 0.267 seconds clear of Hamilton and 0.777 ahead of Ferrari's Sebastian Vettel.
"Awesome, thanks guys" Rosberg told his team over the race radio and gave both thumbs up as he climbed out of his car. His previous pole came at the season-ending Abu Dhabi GP last year. His last victory came at the previous race, at the Brazilian GP, where he started from pole.
"Psychologically it feels great. Starting with the car I have I will be trying for the win for sure," said Rosberg, who will try for a ninth career race victory. "Strategy is going to be important. Overtaking is more difficult on this track so starting in front is a particularly big advantage."
Of the past 24 races held at the Catalunya track, 18 have been won from pole -- a fact not lost on Hamilton, who took the victory here last year after starting up front.
"It is very, very difficult to overtake, as it has been shown over the years," the two-time F1 champion said. "Nico did a great job."
However, with more than 700 meters until the first turn, Hamilton can get ahead of Rosberg if he makes a strong start.
Rosberg drove aggressively from the outset, even beating Hamilton's pole position time from last year in the third practice run. He was keen to make amends for the Bahrain GP three weeks ago, where by his own admission he had driven too conservatively in qualifying and ended up third on the grid behind Vettel and Hamilton.
"For sure Bahrain was still in my mind," he said. "I wanted to make sure I didn't make that mistake again. I just got myself into a rhythm and it worked out well."
Vettel, who beat Hamilton in Malaysia, will need a strong performance to challenge the Mercedes cars on Sunday.
"We would have loved to be a little closer," the four-time champion said. "I hope it will be better in the race, we expected them to be very strong."
The last Spanish driver to win here was Fernando Alonso two years ago, and the two-time champion has all but no chance of even a podium after qualifying down in 13th ahead of McLaren teammate Jenson Button.
McLaren, which has struggled since switching to Honda engines, has not scored a point yet this season, with Alonso's best a meager 11th place in Bahrain.
But home fans still had something to cheer about with Toro Rosso driver Carlos Sainz Jr. -- the son of two-time world rally champion Carlos Sainz -- qualifying in fifth place behind the Williams of Valtteri Bottas and ahead of his Toro Rosso teammate Max Verstappen.
The 17-year-old Verstappen starts ahead of 35-year-old Kimi Raikkonen, who was a disappointing seventh for Ferrari.
