Red Bull's Max Verstappen took pole from Lewis Hamilton, his title rival with the final lap of qualifying at the US Grand Prix.
Hamilton had beaten Verstappen's pace-setting time earlier, but Verstappen was still in the lead.
After a thrilling session, Verstappen defeated Hamilton by 0.209 seconds.
Sergio Perez from Red Bull came third. Mercedes' Valtteri Bottas, a Mercedes driver, was fourth. However, he starts ninth after a penalty on the grid.
Charles Leclerc, Ferrari's Ferrari driver, will replace the Finn in the second row. Carlos Sainz, his teammate and fellow Ferrari driver Carlos Sainz, will start fifth ahead McLarens Daniel Ricciardo (and Lando Norris)
It was a battle for pole!
Red Bull seemed to be the favourites for pole, after Verstappen beat Hamilton in both of their qualifying sessions.
Perez, who was in excellent form and almost a match for Verstappen all weekend, set the pace for the final run of the final session. He beat Verstappen and Bottas by a long shot.
The seven-time champion was out early to run his final lap. He did an impressive lap to jump ahead of the Red Bulls, but Verstappen was too strong to reclaim his place on the final lap.
The Circuit of the Americas was packed with 120,000 people. They enjoyed 30C temperatures and witnessed a complete reversal of the previous races in which Mercedes had the fastest car. This surprised many, given that Mercedes had been so strong in Friday's practice.
Hamilton stated, "I gave everything." Qualifying was difficult. We fell back a bit from the first practice, but those guys were very quick in qualifying.
"I was content with my last lap. It was almost as much as we had.
Verstappen stated that Q3 was not an amazing lap. However, in Q3, the lap started spitting. It was almost like there was a drizzle in the last sector. The team's P1 and P3 performances were strong.
Perez was most competitive in this race which is actually a second home race. Austin is located a few hundred kilometers from his homeland and is well-attended by Mexicans.
Perez stated, "We were really close in that final lap." "We did a fantastic job as a group. My final attempt wasn't as strong throughout the lap. Although I made some improvements throughout the lap, I was unable to maintain it.
"There were some spots of rain, and I lost a little grip in two corners. I could see my [timing] delta going off."
Drivers in the US have a lot of fun playing basketball, which has helped them relax.
Bottas was in desperate need of a good result as he is subject to a five-place grid penalty due to taking another engine beyond his allowed allowance. He was also quicker than Hamilton on the final qualifying runs.
He was unable to improve his lap on the final lap, and he dropped to ninth at the beginning. Hamilton will not be able help him against the Red Bulls.
He said, "Definitely not what I was looking for." "Q3's first run was very good. The last section was not very good. I tried to do a clean lap in the second run, but there was more understeer and locking in the last sector. This caused me to lose too much time.
"Red Bull had a little bit of an advantage today pace-wise. Maybe a bit stronger that we expected."
On Sunday, more than 140,000 people will be watching the race.
The best of the rest
After a tough qualifying run, Leclerc managed to pull off another excellent qualifying lap to finish fourth.
Sainz, his teammate, also beat Ferrari's McLarens to third place in constructors' championship. However, the Spaniard started on the soft tyre following a questionable strategy. He could have problems during the race as the soft tire is expected to fade quickly.
Ricciardo's performance in qualifying was his first victory over Norris since the Dutch Grand Prix in early January. Yuki Tsunoda, a rookie, impressed by joining Pierre Gasly, Alpha Tauri's team-mate in the top 10.
Sebastian Vettel, Aston Martin's Sebastian Vettel, qualified 12th. He succeeded in his goal of starting ahead of Fernando Alonso of Alpine and George Russell's Williams at back of grid due to engine penalties.
