Lando Norris mastered tricky wet conditions to clinch a crucial pole position for the Las Vegas Grand Prix, while Oscar Piastri had to settle for fifth.
A rain shower before and during the start of the qualifying made conditions incredibly difficult in Sin City, but the circuit ramped up as the session progressed.
By Q3, lap times improved with each circulation, but it was a heroic late effort from Norris which secured a third consecutive pole.
Norris' 1m 47.934 was enough for pole, ahead of Max Verstappen and Williams' Carlos Sainz. George Russell was fourth.
Rainfall during the opening part of qualifying made conditions treacherous for the drivers at the Strip Circuit, with Lewis Hamilton having qualified in a shock last – the first time in his F1 career on pure pace.
Result Qualification - Las Vegas
Q3 - Norris completes pole position hat-trick
It was intermediate tyres galore as the final part of qualifying got underway, in what was a wide-open battle for pole. Unlike in dry qualifying conditions, the drivers remained on the track throughout the 12-minute session.
Halfway through Q3 it was Piastri on provisional pole, one-tenth clear of Sainz and Norris who completed the top three at the time. However, this quickly changed.
Lap times continued to improve throughout the final session, in what was a battle for pole which went down to the very final laps.
Ahead of the final lap for each driver, it was a 1m 48.384 from Norris which they were all trying to beat. Verstappen and Sainz both beat it, putting pressure on both McLarens and Russell.
Russell failed to beat Verstappen, but Norris found more lap time to storm to pole by three-tenths. Piastri was also improving, but went off in the middle sector. It left him in fifth, while Verstappen and Sainz completed the top three.
Q2 - Stroll gamble backfires
The second part of qualifying was delayed for a few moments due to track repairs, but it also allowed the conditions to improve as rain moved away.
Wet tyres were on all cars for the start of the session, with visibility having improved considerably due to the rain having passed. Conditions improved to the point that Lance Stroll suddenly switched to the intermediates with six minutes remaining.
It proved to be an error by Aston Martin, as Stroll found himself eliminated from qualifying due to the circuit not being ready for the compound.
No big names were eliminated in Q2, with Nico Hulkenberg qualifying in 11th, ahead of Stroll, Esteban Ocon, Oliver Bearman and Franco Colapinto. Piastri was in 10th, but six-tenths clear of Hulkenberg.
Russell topped the timesheets on a 1m 50.935, ahead of Hadjar and Sainz.
Q1 - Albon crashes; Hamilton LAST
As qualifying got underway, all eyes were on the rainfall, which resulted in some drivers immediately fitting the wet tyre – this quickly became the entire field.
Visibility was awful for the drivers, who kept going off at Turns nine and 14. With five minutes remaining, Piastri, Leclerc and Verstappen were all still without a competitive lap time.
That did soon change, as lap times started to improve considerably once all drivers had an understanding of the conditions.
Limits were pushed in the final moments with Alex Albon having crashed at the penultimate corner, although he safely managed to return to the Williams garage without the session needing to be stopped.
It offered those on circuit one final attempt to progress to Q2. There was widespread improvement, but Hamilton had to settle for a shocking last.
Both Kimi Antonelli and Yuki Tsunoda were also eliminated in Q1, with the elimination places having been occupied by Albon in 16th, followed by Antonelli, Gabriel Bortoleto, Tsunoda and Hamilton.
Russell topped Q1 on a 1m 53.144, ahead of Verstappen and Alonso.
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