McLaren's Oscar Piastri grabbed pole position for the Bahrain Grand Prix ahead of his 50th Formula One start with George Russell putting his Mercedes alongside the Australian on the front row for Sunday's race.
Piastri's championship-leading teammate Lando Norris qualified only sixth, a potentially significant blow in the title battle although closest rival Max Verstappen will start seventh for Red Bull.
Ferrari's Charles Leclerc qualified third and Mercedes' Italian rookie Andrea Kimi Antonelli fourth with Alpine's Pierre Gasly fifth.
Piastri, who was also fastest in two out of three practice sessions, lapped the floodlit Sakhir circuit with a best time of one minute 29.841 seconds - 0.168 faster than Russell. The pole was his second of the season and his career.
Russell was a surprisingly strong challenger and took second for Mercedes.
“The others caught up a little bit closer than what I wanted,” Piastri said. “But I still delivered the laps when it mattered, which was the most important thing in the end so very, very happy.”
"I've felt confident out there pretty much all weekend," added Piastri, who has a great chance to slash the 13-point championship gap to Norris.
"The others caught up a little bit closer than what I wanted but I still delivered the laps when it mattered, which was the most important thing at the end."
Russell said being so close to Piastri was a pleasant surprise but played down his chances of fighting for the win.
“I think if anybody said we’d be within half a second of the McLarens, we'd have taken it,” he said. “I think being realistic it’ll be a challenge to fight with with Oscar.”
Piastri is heading into his 50th career race with a chance for his second win of the season after victory in China last month. A win could put him top of the standings.
Carlos Sainz qualified eighth for Williams with Ferrari's seven-times world champion Lewis Hamilton ninth and Red Bull's Yuki Tsunoda 10th.
It was the first time this season that both Red Bulls had reached the final top 10 shootout.
Esteban Ocon crashed his Haas in the second phase, triggering red flags after he careered backwards across the gravel into the barriers.
The Frenchman said he was OK but took his time clambering out and was taken away in the medical car.
Australian rookie Jack Doohan qualified his Alpine 11th, his best qualifying session yet, and one place ahead of Racing Bulls' Isack Hadjar.
Alex Albon failed to make it through the opening phase for the first time this season, the Williams driver qualifying only 16th.
Albon was then promoted to 15th - but too late to continue in the session - when Sauber's Nico Hulkenberg had his lap deleted.
Liam Lawson’s tough start to the year continued as he was 17th for Racing Bulls after a fault with the DRS system. It’s the New Zealander’s second race since he was demoted from the main Red Bull team in favor of Tsunoda.
Despite Mercedes' strong pace, Russell and Antonelli are facing an investigation for driving out of the garage during a restricted period in the qualifying session.
