Lewis Hamilton blew the field away to secure pole position for Sunday's Malaysia Grand Prix, with title rival Nico Rosberg starting second.

Hamilton twice beat the overall lap record at the Sepang International Circuit to secure his eighth pole of 2016 in a blistering time of one minute 32.850 seconds.

Rosberg left himself with one flying lap to get close to Hamilton in Q3 and will take some solace from joining his Mercedes team-mate on the front row, though he came in four tenths off the Briton's pace.

The German enjoys an eight-point lead over Hamilton with six races to go in the championship, thanks to three successive victories since the mid-season break.