Spanish GP: Nico Rosberg Takes Pole Position
Rosberg beat Hamilton, the world championship leader, by three-tenths of a second, with Sebastian Vettel third-fastest in his Ferrari and Finland's Valtteri Bottas fourth in his Williams.
Nico Rosberg ended his Mercedes team-mate Lewis Hamilton's run of domination in qualifying this season when he secured his first pole position of the year in Saturday's qualifying session for Sunday's Spanish Grand Prix.
The 29-year-old German produced a fastest lap in one minute and 24.681 seconds to outpace the defending world champion by three-tenths of a second on a hot afternoon at the Circuit de Catalunya where Hamilton won from pole last year.
His lap was quicker than Hamilton's 2014 pole time and ended the 30-year-old Briton's run of four straight poles this year.
Rosberg now needs to convert that advantage into a first win since last year's Brazilian Grand Prix to reduce Hamilton's 27-point lead in the title race.
Four-time champion Sebastian Vettel was third-fastest for Ferrari ahead of Finn Valtteri Bottas of Williams, new home hero Carlos Sainz and his Toro Rosso team-mate, Dutch teenager Max Verstappen.
Another Finn, Kimi Raikkonen was down in seventh for Ferrari ahead of Russian Daniil Kvyat of Red Bull, Brazilian Felipe Massa in the second Williams and Australian Daniel Ricciardo in the second Red Bull.