Abu Dhabi Grand Prix 2014: Nico Rosberg beats Lewis Hamilton into pole as F1 title race takes another twist The sun went down and the temperature cooled, but the heat went up inside Hamilton and Rosberg's cockpits as qualifying got underway. There was an amusing story on Saturday morning that a bunch of Hamilton fans had moored a yacht next to the Mercedes hospitality unit, in a bid to make some racket and put off Rosberg. The only downside? Hamilton's room is just down the corridor. Despite the noise, both seemed unperturbed on the evidence of the early running. Rosberg laid down the early marker in qualifying one. An error-strewn lap was up next for Hamilton. Even though he was sliding all over the place, smoking up the tyres, he went fastest by 0.1 seconds. The fear all weekend has been that the Williams might spoil Hamilton's party, as Jenson Button predicted last night. However, in Q1 they were nowhere, as was everyone else. Valtteri Bottas, third fastest with a few minutes remaining, was more than a second adrift of Hamilton. For a while, Button seemed in danger, but both he and his team-mate Kevin Magnussen pulled themselves up the order. According to Ron Dennis, the McLaren boss, both are under threat. Dennis told reporters to think of four names for the two seats rather than three. It is known that Fernando Alonso will be joining the team, but will both Button and Magnussen go? Alonso is leaving Ferrari, which are rumoured to be going through their own changes as well. Marco Mattiacci, the team principal, could be back to a job somewhere in the Ferrari Group, perhaps prompting a return for Ross Brawn. Those who know him well say not. The management at Maranello have not yet pushed the right buttons. The former Marlboro manager Maurizio Arrivabene seems more likely. Those who disappeared from Q1, falling by the harbourside in the Yas Marina bay, were both Lotus men, Esteban Guttierez, Kamui Kobayashi and Will Stevens. The 22-year-old Englishman gave a creditable performance, improving throughout the weekend to end up just half a second of his team-mate Kobayashi. Absurdly, Romain Grosjean, of Lotus, has a 20-place grid penalty for an engine change, so will start from the back with an additional time penalty. At the very end of the first session, Felipe Massa gave Rosberg some hope by going third. Rosberg needs Hamilton to finish lower than second, after all. In the second segment, the pressure began to show for Rosberg. He went fastest in the first sector, only to spin off midway through the lap. Hamilton, meanwhile, was comfortably quickest. Rosberg's first clean run was half a second slower. All was not well for Button in what is set to be his final race. The team told him to come in, due to problems with fuel (seemingly, there was not enough). "Are you serious?" was his terse reply. Qualifying has never been a happy hunting ground for the 34-year-old. He ended up making it through to the final shootout sixth fastest. Magnussen chose a bad time to qualify 11th. Button ends the season out-qualifying the young Dane 10-9. Button's prediction about Williams was coming true. In the final seconds of Q2, Massa and Bottas split the Mercedes, just a few tenths of Hamilton's time. Now in darkness, the two protagonists of the whole season were ready to fight it out for the important pole position of the year. The Williams pair were the first to blink. Massa seemed to have the edge, going quickest with a 1min41.1s lap. Rosberg obliterated it. Hamilton wavered. In the final two corners, he ran very wide, locking up and losing time. It was a ragged effort leaving him 0.3s off his team-mate. Bottas threatened to take top spot, but faltered at the end. Rosberg just continued to improve, setting fastest sector after fastest sector. Hamilton was nowhere. He locked up in the stadium section, ending 0.4s slower, setting up a thrilling race tomorrow.