Max Verstappen Photo: Photosport
Red Bull's Max Verstappen has taken a stunning first pole position in five months at the Qatar Grand Prix while McLaren dealt Ferrari another blow in the Formula One constructors' title battle by qualifying ahead of their rivals.
The newly-crowned four-times world champion ended the session under investigation by stewards, however, after a near-miss with Mercedes's George Russell who qualified alongside on the front row at the Lusail circuit.
Russell almost went into the rear of the slower Red Bull in an incident he described as 'super-dangerous' over the team radio.
McLaren's Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri qualified third and fourth respectively after taking maximum points from the sprint to send the team 30 points clear.
Ferrari's Charles Leclerc will start fifth with team mate Carlos Sainz seventh.
New Zealand's Liam Lawson was 17th-fastest for RB, claiming on his team radio that he was impacted by Aston Martin driver Lance Stroll slowing down on two corners after aborting a lap.
Lawson's best time of 1min 22.411sec was 1.170sec slower than teammate Yuki Tsunoda, who will be 14th on the grid.
Liam Lawson of New Zealand at the 2024 Las Vegas Grand Prix. Photo: PHOTOSPORT
McLaren can clinch their first constructors' title in 26 years on Sunday, with one round to spare, if results go their way.
Verstappen secured his fourth successive world title in Las Vegas last week and the Qatar pole - in a time of one minute 20.520 seconds - in the final seconds.
It was his first since Austria at the end of June and ninth of the year.
"That was amazing, the turnaround. Great job guys," Verstappen said over the radio after crossing the line 0.055 quicker than Russell, who had looked like repeating his Las Vegas pole.
"I didn't expect this," the Dutchman said later, having finished only eighth in the sprint with a lack of balance and grip.
"We changed a bit on the car but I never thought it would make such a swing in performance, so that's promising. I hope it lasts tomorrow in the race.
"It just felt a lot more stable over one lap and that's exactly what we need."
Team boss Christian Horner said Red Bull had changed "pretty much everything we could change" to put the car in a better performance window.
Seven-times world champion Lewis Hamilton qualified sixth for Mercedes, 0.436 of a second off Russell's time, with Fernando Alonso eighth for Aston Martin and Verstappen's struggling team mate Sergio Perez ninth.
Kevin Magnussen completed the top 10 on the grid for Haas, who are fighting a midfield battle for sixth place with Renault-owned Alpine and Red Bull's RB.
McLaren drivers Oscar Piastri and Lando Norris. Photo: AFP
Piastri had led Norris in the sprint after swapping places within sight of the finish as payback for the Australian gifting victory to the Briton in Brazil to help his drivers' championship chances.
"Not the position we were hoping for after yesterday and today but the maximum we could do," Norris, who made a mistake at turn five on his first effort in the final phase, said of his grid position for Sunday.
"The lap was pretty good. I was pretty happy with it but just not quick enough compared to the others.
"I don't think we are as quick as the Mercedes, and Red Bull showed how much they improved since yesterday, so plenty of opportunity for everyone."
"It was a surprise for us to be so close to McLaren but a surprise that Red Bull and Mercedes were so strong," said Leclerc.
Sainz was summoned to the stewards after the session for an unsafe release from the Ferrari garage into Hamilton's path, with the team fined 5,000 euros.
Sprint race
Earlier, Lawson finished 16th in the sprint race after starting 10th on the grid.
Norris ignored team orders and gifted Piastri victory at the line in the short race as McLaren took another stride towards a first Formula One constructors' title in 26 years.
The team's lead over Ferrari, who had Sainz finish fourth and Leclerc fifth, stretched to 30 points with 88 still to be won from Monday morning's race and the final round in Abu Dhabi next weekend.
McLaren will win the championship under the Lusail floodlights if they score 15 points more than Ferrari -- the equivalent of another one-two.
Russell was third for Mercedes in the 19 lap race with team mate Hamilton sixth, Nico Hulkenberg seventh for Haas and Red Bull's Verstappen taking the final point a week after securing his fourth successive drivers' title.
McLaren's Oscar Piastri at the 2023 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix. Photo: PHOTOSPORT
The risky swap at the chequered flag, despite the team telling Norris to hold position with Russell close behind, was pay back for Piastri who gifted Norris a sprint victory in Brazil.
The Briton was still fighting for the championship at the time but Verstappen ended that battle in Las Vegas last week.
Just 1.3 seconds divided the top four at the finish, with Australian Piastri crossing the line a mere 0.136 ahead of his team mate to take his second successive Qatar sprint win.
"It was probably a bit closer than I was wanting but I planned to do it since Brazil," Norris said of the swap.
"It's just what I thought was best. It's probably a little bit sketchy. The team told me not to do it but I thought I could get away with it, and we did.
"Honestly, I don't mind. I'm not here to win sprint races, I'm here to win (grand prix) races and a championship, but that's not gone to plan."
The Briton led from pole position while Piastri passed Russell for second at turn two on the opening lap, a crucial move that then put him in a position to take the victory.
- Reuters