Hamilton, who said he struggled with the balance of his Mercedes throughout, knows it will be a tall order to triumph in this one, with eight of the last 10 races here won by the driver starting from the front of the grid.
Elsewhere, Sebastian Vettel qualified a distant third for Ferrari, with his team-mate Kimi Raikkonen a lacklustre seventh. There was more disappointment for McLaren too, despite both cars making it out of the opening segment for the first time this year.
Fernando Alonso and Jenson Button will line up 13th and 14th, still just over three seconds off Rosberg’s fastest time. Their first points of the year may even be out of reach. Any sign of major progress is not easy to spot.
Unquestionably, the day went to Rosberg. He will have taken particular satisfaction from the fact both of his efforts at the end of qualifying were comfortably good enough for pole.
“Of course I needed it sooner rather than later,” the 29-year-old said afterwards. “It’s just one step in the right direction to winning the race here this weekend. It was a good day in the office for sure. Psychologically, it’s good, it feels great. I’m happy. I feel good for tomorrow.”
Hamilton, unsurprisingly, was more subdued, conceding it will take a stirring performance to pass Rosberg on a circuit with plenty of high speed corners but little opportunities for overtaking.
The rivalry between Rosberg and Lewis Hamilton has intensified
Asked how important the start was to his chances, the two-time champion said: “Probably, it’s always one of the opportunities, and some of the pit stops. It’s very, very difficult to overtake as it’s proved over the years. I haven’t even started to think about it yet.”
In the first four races of the year, particularly Malaysia, which they spectacularly won, Ferrari have been able to throw a spanner in the works. There is a small chance that Vettel could simply run his own race, conserve his rubber while allowing the Mercedes duo to squabble at the front, before mounting a late charge.
But the four-time champion was not overly optimistic of repeating his Sepang exploits. “Being realistic, they are quick,” Vettel said. “They are not on the first row by chance. They showed every single session this weekend they are competitive with either tyre.
“I think it’s a different weekend to Malaysia. The tyres are not working as well, and it looks like Mercedes has a bit of an edge and are more comfortable on both compounds compared to us. We’ll see what we can do in the race.”
Almost all day Rosberg appeared to be in control. He was fastest in morning practice while Hamilton spun. Then in the second part of qualifying, eager not to repeat the mistakes of Bahrain three weeks ago, he went hell for leather, giving himself every chance in the decider.
But it was in the final shootout where Rosberg needed to put Hamilton off his game. The German’s first lap, a 1min 24.7secs, gave him in provisional pole position. Hamilton had some work to do, but he could not conjure a lap, going slower second time around. Rosberg is back in business.