Max Verstappen was the last driver to set a flying lap but will start first in the sprint race at the Formula One US Grand Prix after upstaging both the McLarens in qualifying.
The defending champion clocked the fastest time of one minute 32.143 seconds on Friday, beating Lando Norris by mere 0.071s and championship leader Oscar Piastri in the other McLaren.
Piastri, who was 0.380s behind Dutch ace Verstappen, will start third on the grid ahead of German Nico Hulkenberg (1:32.645).
Norris had set a commanding pace in practice to throw down the gauntlet to Piastri, who leads his teammate by 22 points in the standings.
The 25-year-old has appeared to have the edge on the Australian around the sweeping Texas circuit, backing up his blistering pace in the only practice session by topping the first two sessions of sprint qualifying.
He charged to provisional pole as Piastri was over three 10ths off his teammate, but it was Verstappen who surged to the top of the charts.
The British driver is facing unspecified "repercussions" from his own team after McLaren decided he was responsible for banging wheels with Piastri's car on the first lap in Singapore a fortnight ago.
It is understood those consequences will be sporting ones and Norris suggested it could even be something that counts against him for the rest of the season.
But now they have another in their sights as Verstappen chases a fifth successive crown.
Verstappen is 63 points behind Piastri heading into the weekend.
"It worked out well, but I still expect it to be a tough battle tomorrow in the sprint, but that's I think exactly what we want to see," Verstappen said.
"I'm excited for tomorrow and happy with today. I hope that we have good pace in the race, but we'll find out tomorrow."
There are 33 points up for grabs across the weekend in Austin, with Saturday's sprint followed by Sunday's main race.
A "heat hazard" has been declared for the second race in a row, with temperatures on Saturday and Sunday at the Circuit of the Americas forecast to exceed 31 degrees Celsius.
Ferrari endured another difficult session. Lewis Hamilton and Charles Leclerc both squeezed through to the final part of sprint qualifying at the death but offered no threat to the leading cars, with Hamilton eighth and Leclerc 10th on the grid.
with agencies