Nico Rosberg has laughed off suggestions that he played it safe to ensure a front row start at the Malaysian Grand Prix, as the Mercedes driver qualified second and 0.4s off team-mate Lewis Hamilton.

The German was only fifth and nine tenths adrift of his title rival after the drivers involved in Q3 completed their first runs. Although Rosberg managed to find half a second on his final flyer, the gap to Hamilton remains substantial.

“Of course I am going for pole, what else would I be doing?” replied Rosberg when asked if he was solely focussed on beating the Red Bulls. “But Lewis’ lap was very quick so it was always going to be difficult.

“I would have come closer but unfortunately I had a mistake in the last corner. Something was not going right in that final hairpin. I could not get the settings right, and always got a bit of oversteer going into there. Anyway, second place, I can live with that now.”

Rosberg was also quick to point to previous races this season, where a pole position on Saturday have not necessarily translated into a win on Sunday.

“As we know from this year, second place does not mean that victory is not possible,” the current championship added. “We have seen that so many times. Still very optimistic for the race.”

The last time Rosberg lined up second behind Hamilton on the grid was at the Italian Grand Prix, where he took a comfortable win after beating his rival at lights out.