Rosberg took pole for the Russian Grand Prix on October 10 with a Q3 lap of 1:37.113. Hamilton was second, 0.320 seconds behind, with Bottas third.
Rosberg had already led Q1 with a 1:38.343. Bottas moved ahead of Hamilton late in that session, although the two were using different tyres.
Alonso, Ericsson and Marussia drivers Stevens and Merhi were eliminated in Q1. Sainz did not take part in qualifying after his FP3 accident, leaving 19 drivers in the official qualifying classification.
In Q2, Rosberg led Hamilton with a 1:37.500. Home driver Kvyat was eliminated in 11th, while Nasr, Button, Maldonado and Massa also missed the top ten.
On the first Q3 runs, Pérez, Räikkönen, Vettel and Bottas briefly took turns at the top before Rosberg lowered the benchmark to 1:37.113.
Hamilton set a 1:37.433 but made a mistake on his final attempt and could not close the gap to his teammate. Rosberg secured his third pole position of the season.
Vettel was fourth, Räikkönen fifth, Hülkenberg sixth, Pérez seventh and Grosjean eighth. Verstappen and Ricciardo completed the top ten.
Alonso and Merhi also had power-unit-related grid penalties. Those affected their starting positions and left the session classification unchanged. Following medical examinations, Sainz hoped to race on Sunday, but he had no qualifying result.
| Position | No. | Driver | Team | Q1 | Q2 | Q3 | Laps |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 6 | Nico Rosberg | Mercedes | 1:38.343 | 1:37.500 | 1:37.113 | 20 |
| 2 | 44 | Lewis Hamilton | Mercedes | 1:38.558 | 1:37.672 | 1:37.433 | 18 |
| 3 | 77 | Valtteri Bottas | Williams | 1:38.448 | 1:38.194 | 1:37.912 | 26 |
| 4 | 5 | Sebastian Vettel | Ferrari | 1:38.598 | 1:38.402 | 1:37.965 | 15 |
| 5 | 7 | Kimi Räikkönen | Ferrari | 1:39.207 | 1:38.224 | 1:38.348 | 18 |
| 6 | 27 | Nico Hülkenberg | Force India | 1:39.250 | 1:38.727 | 1:38.659 | 21 |
| 7 | 11 | Sergio Pérez | Force India | 1:39.617 | 1:38.914 | 1:38.691 | 19 |
| 8 | 8 | Romain Grosjean | Lotus | 1:39.056 | 1:38.754 | 1:38.787 | 19 |
| 9 | 33 | Max Verstappen | Toro Rosso | 1:39.411 | 1:39.119 | 1:38.924 | 23 |
| 10 | 3 | Daniel Ricciardo | Red Bull | 1:39.574 | 1:39.005 | 1:39.728 | 18 |
| 11 | 26 | Daniil Kvyat | Red Bull | 1:39.580 | 1:39.214 | — | 18 |
| 12 | 12 | Felipe Nasr | Sauber | 1:40.042 | 1:39.323 | — | 18 |
| 13 | 22 | Jenson Button | McLaren | 1:39.739 | 1:39.763 | — | 15 |
| 14 | 13 | Pastor Maldonado | Lotus | 1:39.724 | 1:39.811 | — | 15 |
| 15 | 19 | Felipe Massa | Williams | 1:38.926 | 1:39.895 | — | 17 |
| 16 | 14 | Fernando Alonso | McLaren | 1:40.144 | — | — | 7 |
| 17 | 9 | Marcus Ericsson | Sauber | 1:40.660 | — | — | 9 |
| 18 | 28 | Will Stevens | Marussia | 1:43.693 | — | — | 9 |
| 19 | 98 | Roberto Merhi | Marussia | 1:43.804 | — | — | 8 |
