Max Verstappen maintained his F1 championship challenge by saving his best until the very last to land a third successive pole position for the United States Grand Prix sprint.
Lando Norris appeared the man to beat after finishing quickest in SQ1 and SQ2, ahead of Verstappen, and the Briton set the bar in SQ3 with a lap of 1:32.214s.
As the last man on track, it was all eyes on four-time F1 champion Verstappen, and he did not disappoint, ousting Norris from top spot by 0.071s, with Oscar Piastri almost four-tenths off the pace in claiming third on the grid.
As for Sauber's Nico Hulkenberg, the veteran German who has not scored a point since finishing third in the British Grand Prix in July, to finally end his unwanted record for number of races without a podium, landed an astonishing fourth.
With only eight minutes on the clock for the final sprint shootout session, it meant only one run on the mandatory softs for the 10 drivers.
George Russell, who was first out of the pits, posted a 1:32.888s and will start fifth in his Mercedes ahead of Fernando Alonso in his Aston Martin, followed by the Williams of Carlos Sainz.
Ferrari duo Lewis Hamilton and Charles Leclerc struggled throughout, with the duo starting eighth and 10th, either side of Alex Albon in his Williams.
Result Sprint qualifying - United States
Tsunoda pays the price for SQ1 chaos
The opening 12-minute session was a fascinating battle between the main protagonists, spearheaded by Norris with a 1:33.224s on the mandatory medium compound tyres for all drivers, finishing 0.139s clear of Verstappen, with Piastri a further half a second off.
The session was notable for the chaos that ensued around the second push lap as several drivers left the pit lane late, fighting to get into line. including Red Bull's Yuki Tsunoda. It resulted in them racing to cross the line to start their hot lap.
Tsunoda, however, was not alone as he was joined by Haas drivers Oliver Bearman and Esteban Ocon, as well as Sauber's Gabriel Bortoleto.
The Brazilian was punished for track limits on his opening outing, putting him under pressure for the second run, but will start last after failing to set a time.
Ocon joins Bortoleto on the back row, with Bearman and Tsunoda starting 16th and 18th, either side of Alpine's Pierre Gasly.
SQ2, with the yellow-striped Pirellis again mandatory, was less chaotic, at the end of which Norris again led the way, improving to 1:33.033s, 0.130s ahead of Verstappen, and with Piastri again third, 0.338s down.
The trio had the luxury of watching the rest of the session unfold, in which Hamilton scraped into the top 10 by six thousandths of a second ahead of Mercedes' Kimi Antonelli, who made a small error on the approach to Turn 11 that cost him crucial time.
Racing Bulls duo Isack Hadjar and Liam Lawson will line up 12th and 15th, the latter failing to set a time after his only lap was deleted for track limits at Turn 19. Alpine's Pierre Gasly and Lance Stroll in his Aston Martin start 13th and 14th.
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