( CNN ) Lewis Hamilton will begin Sunday 's Malaysian Grand Prix in pole position after dominating qualifying in torrential conditions . The Mercedes driver , and current world champion , beat Ferrari 's Sebastian Vettel into second place who himself snatched a front row berth away from countryman Nico Rosberg in the final seconds of qualifying . `` It was a fantastic job for the team to have us both up here again , '' Hamilton said , referring to teammate Rosberg 's third place finish . Tension ? Initially it had appeared that the tensions that had marked last season 's title race had re-emerged . Hamilton aborted a flying lap after it looked like Rosberg had blocked him . But both men played down the incident in the post-qualifying press conference . Rosberg , for his part , was more annoyed that Vettel had managed to steal second place at the death . `` I just did n't drive well enough , I 'm annoyed by that , '' Rosberg said . `` Third place is not good enough . '' Deluge . Qualifying took place amid spectacular thunderstorms which delayed qualifying by half an hour . Indeed , Malaysia has become known for such conditions . The 2012 race was halted for an hour and in 2009 abandoned altogether and awarded to Jenson Button after 31 laps . But Hamilton made light work of the conditions , looked the quickest throughout and will try to build on his season opening win in Australia . Yet perhaps the most impressive performance of the day came further down the grid . Toro Rosso 's 17 year old driver Max Verstappen will start the race in sixth in only his second race for the team .
Max Verstappen will start the Malaysian GP in pole position . Beat Ferrari 's Vettel into second place in torrential rain . Lewis Hamilton , 17 , will start sixth .