Nico Rosberg says a troublesome front left prevented him from making the improvements he needed on his final Q3 run to wrestle pole position away from Lewis Hamilton at Silverstone.
Mercedes' pace all weekend has suggested a shoot-out between Hamilton and Rosberg for pole was on the cards. The world champions were well clear of the chasing pack and Hamilton's first Q3 run saw him edge Rosberg by 0.113s, a margin that proved to be enough as drivers find more time from their runs at the endof the session.
On the radio after Q3 Rosberg complained about his front left and he said that made clawing back Hamilton's advantage impossible.
Asking if the first run in Q3 was crucial for taking pole, Rosberg said: "I don't know, I don't really see that trend. For me, today it was still all to play for in the second run so I was still pushing all out for sure, and the chance was still there as it was so close.
"The last run was something strange. Nobody improved on that one, or not many at least - Felipe did. There was something wrong with my left front, I had big understeer, something very wrong and we need to look into what it was."
Rosberg has only out-qualified Hamilton once this season and he says there was little explanation about being behind after Q3's first run other than his team-mate doing a better job.
"The first lap was really good so there's not much to do about that - Lewis was just one tenth quicker which is annoying, but that's the way it is. Other than that, really awesome to see how many people have come today out on the grandstands. It's incredible, more or less a full house today and great to see how enthusiastic everyone is about our sport in this country."