George Russell put Mercedes on pole for the Las Vegas Grand Prix as Max Verstappen moved a step closer to a fourth successive Formula One title by qualifying ahead of Lando Norris.
Red Bull's Verstappen, who will retain his crown with two rounds to spare if he beats Norris on Saturday, secured fifth place on the grid with his McLaren rival sixth.
“We are still in front of McLaren, which for me is a bit of a surprise but I’m quite happy with how qualifying went and my laps,” said Verstappen.
Norris must score three points more than the Dutch driver in Sunday’s race to continue the title battle in Qatar next weekend.
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“I'll do everything I can,” said Norris, whose team also risk losing ground to Ferrari in the constructors' championship. “I'm not going to give up until the end even if the chance is extremely thin.”
Ferrari's Carlos Sainz joined Russell on the front row with Alpine's Pierre Gasly a surprising third fastest and Ferrari's Charles Leclerc was fourth.
Russell had been on provisional pole after the first flying laps but he left the best to last as others went faster on an improving track.
His pole time of one minute 32.312 seconds was 0.098 quicker than Sainz, who had set the pace after an earlier best from Leclerc.
“I knew coming into that last Q3 lap, that would be the one that counts, it doesn't matter what happened before then,” said Russell, who was fastest in final practice and brushed the wall with his first effort.
“I had a bit of a moment on my first run. We had to change my front wing. There was a moment I thought we wouldn't make the flag.
“You have to put it on the table sometimes. I felt confident in myself and knew if I did a clean lap, I would be on the front row.”
The pole was his third of the season and fourth of his career.
Yuki Tsunoda qualified seventh for RB with Norris’s team-mate Oscar Piastri eighth and Nico Hulkenberg ninth for US-owned Haas.
Seven-time world champion Lewis Hamilton qualified 10th after being fastest in Thursday practice.
The Mercedes driver misjudged his first effort and ran wide before having his second attempt deleted for exceeding track limits.
“It's really disappointing as we definitely had the pace for pole position today,” Hamilton said.
Verstappen's team-mate Sergio Perez, his place at Red Bull increasingly questioned, continued his run of poor form and qualified 16th.
Perez has not scored a point since the US Grand Prix in Austin last month and his struggles since May have hit Red Bull hard in the constructors’ standings with the champions third overall.
“Unbelievable ... I couldn't find any grip,” said the Mexican over team radio after being told he was out.
Both Aston Martins failed to get through the first phase, with Lance Stroll getting only one flying lap after his mechanics raced against the clock to change his car's energy recovery system (ERS) pack.
Argentinian rookie Franco Colapinto added to Williams' already hefty repair bill by hitting the wall heavily in qualifying for the second race in a row.
The 21-year-old must pass a medical on Saturday before being cleared to race.
The crash late in the second phase, which left debris scattered across the track and delayed the session, was the sixth in three races for a team whose boss, James Vowles, has put the cost at more than $3 million.
The lengthy halt to clean up and make barrier repairs drew a collective groan from the crowd on a chilly Nevada night, with qualifying starting at 10pm local time (6am Saturday Irish time) and ending well after 11pm.
The race starts at 10pm on Saturday local time (6am Sunday Irish time).
