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Formula One leader Max Verstappen put his Red Bull on pole position for the Austrian Grand Prix on Saturday, with title rival Lewis Hamilton managing only fourth on the grid for Mercedes.
McLaren's Lando Norris joined Verstappen on the front row, a sensational career high for the young Briton, with Verstappen's Mexican team mate Sergio Perez qualifying third at the scenic Red Bull Ring.
The pole was Verstappen's third in a row and set him up perfectly for a hat-trick of wins after winning the Styrian Grand Prix last Sunday and the French race the previous weekend.
The 23-year-old is 18 points clear of seven-time world champion Hamilton after eight races, with Red Bull chasing a fifth successive victory to pull further ahead in both championships.
Verstappen's pole lap of one minute 03.720 seconds was only 0.048 faster than Norris's effort, Mercedes-powered McLaren's first front row since 2012.
"I think Q3 was pretty bad. I'm of course happy to be first but not the way we got it," said Verstappen of the tight margin, with Norris quicker all the way to turn nine but just missing out at the end.
"Of course to be twice on pole here nevertheless is very good. Hopefully we can finish it off tomorrow."
The Dutchman was cheered on by the biggest crowd of a COVID-19 affected season, the majority in orange shirts -- although Norris, whose car is papaya orange, jokingly questioned their allegiance.
"I feel epic," said the Briton. "It was probably one of my best laps I've done.
"The fans are cool here, everyone in orange supporting McLaren, not Max. It's cool to have them back. I know tomorrow's race is going to be tough but we did the best job we could today."
Hamilton, whose last pole was in Spain in May, recognised he faced even more of a challenge than last weekend, when he was on the front row but could not match Verstappen's speed.
"We tried everything to get more out of the car and it's just the underlying pace," said the Briton, whose two-year contract extension had been announced in the morning.
Hamilton said a win on Sunday looked out of the question on pure pace.
"I would say that's an easy cruise win for Max," he added. "For us it's to see if we can get ahead of at least Perez and try to limit the damage this weekend."
Hamilton's team mate Valtteri Bottas will line up fifth, with Pierre Gasly and Yuki Tsunoda sixth and seventh for AlphaTauri.
Sebastian Vettel qualified eighth for Aston Martin but was summoned to stewards for blocking Alpine's Fernando Alonso, with George Russell an impressive ninth on merit for Williams.
Spaniard Alonso was furious over the radio with the four times world champion for a move that left him 14th after being third fastest in the first phase.
"I think we lost an opportunity to be tomorrow P5 or P6 on the grid, and a different race," he said. "So now I guess we will not score points tomorrow. Whatever penalty they give to the others is never enough.
"It was probably our best car of the season in qualifying and we didn't maximise it."
Russell did, securing his team's best qualifying effort since 2018 as he made it through to the top 10 on the medium tyres and looking like he belonged there.
"Q3 in any circumstances is massive for us, let alone doing it on the mediums," the 2018 Formula Two champion said of reaching the final phase. "I've never been so pumped up since probably winning a race three years ago now".
Less so was Australian Daniel Ricciardo, Norris's team mate, who qualified 13th and Alpine's Esteban Ocon in 17th.
Hamilton predicts 'easy cruise' win for Verstappen
Lewis Hamilton sounded resigned to falling further behind in the Formula One title race after qualifying only fourth on Saturday for the Austrian Grand Prix with Red Bull rival Max Verstappen on pole position.
Mercedes' seven-times world champion, the sport's most successful driver of all time, is 18 points adrift of the young Dutch driver after eight races.
Hamilton finished second to Verstappen at the same circuit in last weekend's Styrian Grand Prix, when he had qualified on the front row, and he said Sunday would be even more of a challenge.
"We continue to lack pace, we've tried everything to get more out of the car and it's just the underlying pace that is where we're at, at the moment," the Briton told Sky sports television.
Asked if a win was out of the question, Hamilton agreed it looked that way.
"I would say so. In terms of pure pace it's definitely out of the question.
"They've got three tenths on us, I think they've improved their car again this weekend. So I would say that's an easy cruise win for Max.
"I think for us it's to try and see if we can get ahead of at least Perez, try to limit the damage this weekend," he added.
Verstappen's Mexican team mate Sergio Perez qualified third, behind McLaren's Lando Norris.
Hamilton's day had started more positively with the announcement that the 36-year-old was staying at Mercedes for two more years, ending talk of any retirement at the end of the season.
"It's my family. I've been with Mercedes since I was 13 so it's pretty easy to continue," he said.
