Lewis Hamilton snatched pole position for Sunday’s Azerbaijan Grand Prix after eclipsing Mercedes-GP teammate Valtteri Bottas on his final qualifying lap on Saturday.
The three-time world champion starts ahead of Bottas with Ferrari duo Kimi Raikkonen and Sebastian Vettel, the championship leader, occupying the second row of the grid.
Hamilton, 32, claimed the 66th pole of his career, pulling clear of Brazilian great Ayrton Senna’s mark and leaving the Briton just two shy of Michael Schumacher’s record of 68.
The Briton bounced back from a frustrating practice outing on Friday to clinch his fifth pole in eight races this season as Mercedes locked out the front row.
Hamilton’s quickest lap of 1min 40.593sec came in the final seconds of the session following a red-flagged stoppage which turned the finale into a 3min 30sec showdown.
"I am so pumped — that’s how qualifying should be," said Hamilton, who was more than a second off the pace on Friday. "It is going to be a long hard race, but it’s the best place to start."
Bottas, who had been fastest in Q3 until Hamilton’s stunning final lap, said he was disappointed.
"The lap, in the end, wasn’t quite perfect," he said. "I was struggling the front left temperature and Lewis then did his lap! It’s disappointing, but second place is not bad."
Hamilton is 12 points behind Vettel in the championship after seven races.
Max Verstappen was fifth for Red Bull Racing ahead of the two Force Indias of Sergio Perez and Esteban Ocon. Canadian teenager Lance Stroll was eighth ahead of his Williams teammate Felipe Massa and Australian Daniel Ricciardo, who crashed his Red Bull to engage the red flag and create the final drama.
RESULTS FROM QUALIFYING FOR SUNDAY’S AZERBAIJAN GRAND PRIX:
1. Lewis Hamilton (Britain) Mercedes-GP 1:40.593
2. Valtteri Bottas (Finland) Mercedes-GP 1:41.027
3. Kimi Raikkonen (Finland) Ferrari 1:41.693
4. Sebastian Vettel (Germany) Ferrari 1:41.841
5. Max Verstappen (Netherlands) Red Bull Racing 1:41.879
6. Sergio Perez (Mexico) Force India 1:42.111
7. Esteban Ocon (France) Force India 1:42.186
8. Lance Stroll (Canada) Williams 1:42.753
9. Felipe Massa (Brazil) Williams 1:42.798
10. Daniel Ricciardo (Australia) Red Bull Racing 1:43.414
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11. Daniil Kvyat (Russia) Toro Rosso 1:43.186
12. Carlos Sainz Jr (Spain) Toro Rosso 1:43.347
13. Kevin Magnussen (Denmark) Haas 1:43.796
14. Nico Huelkenberg (Germany) Renault 1:44.267
15. Pascal Wehrlein (Germany) Sauber 1:44.603
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16. Fernando Alonso (Spain) McLaren 1:44.334
17. Romain Grosjean (France) Haas 1:44.468
18. Marcus Ericsson (Sweden) Sauber 1:44.795
19. Stoffel Vandoorne (Belgium) McLaren 1:45.030
20. Jolyon Palmer (Britain) Renault
