Max Verstappen took pole position for what could be a Qatar Grand Prix title parade on Monday (NZ time) if the Red Bull driver secures his third successive Formula One championship a day before.
The Dutch 26-year-old needs only three points to wrap up the championship and can score them if he finishes sixth or higher in a standalone sprint on Sunday.
Kiwi Liam Lawson has qualified 18th for the feature race in what will be his last drive before Daniel Ricciardo returns from injury for AlphaTauri at the US Grand Prix on October 23.
"It's a great start to the weekend and the car is working well. That's all I can hope for really," Verstappen told reporters.
So relaxed and confident was the Dutchman of his time that he did just the one lap in the final phase and still ended up 0.441 faster than Mercedes' George Russell, who will start alongside on the front row.
If the qualifying session lacked some of the usual tension due to the sprint format, it introduced an element of chaos with a string of laps deleted for exceeding track limits and drivers heading to see the stewards for other potential breaches.
Verstappen's Mexican teammate Sergio Perez, the only other driver still in mathematical contention for the title but 177 points adrift, was one casualty.
He will start only 13th on the grid after having his fastest effort deleted in the second phase of the evening session under floodlights.
"It's not over but it will be very difficult to pass, especially with the track conditions. We will see what we are able to do," said Perez.
McLaren also paid a price, with Lando Norris qualifying on the front row but then having his best lap deleted for exceeding track limits and dropping to 10th.
"The team have done a good job. I just messed it up. Not a good day for me," said the Briton.
That lifted Russell to second with McLaren's Oscar Piastri up to third.
"Where's Lando?," asked the confused Russell as the interviews began.
Piastri stepped up in front of the microphone instead but was then told of his drop to sixth, with Mercedes' Lewis Hamilton taking the third place slot, just as he had finished speaking.
"We get another crack at it tomorrow with qualifying and in the Sprint too. We will see what we can do," said the Australian rookie.
Seven times world champion Hamilton was one of several drivers also under investigation for failing to follow the race directors' instructions earlier in the session.
"We know Red Bull and Max are in a league of their own but our fight at the moment is with Ferrari to secure P2 in the constructors' championship," said Russell. "We need to be consistent and go from there."
Ferrari's Carlos Sainz went out with Perez in the second stage, the only non-Red Bull winner of the season qualifying 12th, with Hamilton quickest.
Sainz had earlier nearly collided with Verstappen while the pair battled for track position, with the Dutch driver unimpressed on the team radio and stewards looking into the incident.
Verstappen had led the first phase, with Norris a close second.
Williams' Logan Sargeant had his hopes of going through to stage two dashed in the dying seconds when team mate Alex Albon went faster to preserve his 100% qualifying record against the American.
Lance Stroll also went out at the first hurdle, the Canadian punching the garage wall in frustration after climbing out of the car with a time more than a second slower than teammate Fernando Alonso's.
Alonso qualified in fourth place after the demotions with Ferrari's Charles Leclerc fifth.
Reuters.
