George Russell claimed pole position for the Singapore Grand Prix with a pair of outstanding laps in Q3.
As Saturday's final practice session suggested, qualifying featured an ultra-tight pack at the front and the stage was set for a supreme fight for pole position when five cars ended Q2 covered by just a quarter of a second.
But that never really materialised thanks to the excellence of Russell - who'd been fastest in Q2 as well - in his Mercedes.
His first sector on his opening lap in Q3 was almost a tenth faster than anyone managed and his superiority there left him with a 0.175s advantage over Red Bull's Max Verstappen come the end of the first runs, Russell having brushed the wall exiting the Turns 16-17 chicane towards the end of the lap.
He then pumped in the fastest middle sector of all on his second attempt, eking out another 0.007s of laptime overall to end up with a 1m29.158s lap that proved unassailable.
By the time of those final Q3 runs Verstappen was the only driver who looked capable of toppling Russell, but he backed out of his final lap and said after the session that this was "what happens when there's a car in you, just cruising two seconds in front".
He added that car was "not Oscar", in reference to third-fastest qualifier Oscar Piastri, suggesting he came across the other McLaren of Lando Norris.
Russell's pole - his first since the Canadian GP in June - denied Verstappen a third on the bounce.
Though McLaren's pole challenge faded, championship leader Piastri will have a car between him and nearest challenger Norris on the grid, as the second Mercedes of Kimi Antonelli split them with his first Q3 run.
Norris will line up fifth ahead of the two Ferraris, Lewis Hamilton ahead of Charles Leclerc, which never looked to be in contention for pole position and were both more than half a second down on Russell's time.
Leclerc was in fact only 0.062s faster than the midfield standout Isack Hadjar, who was again best of the rest for Racing Bulls.
Ollie Bearman made Q3 for only the second time this season, and the first since the third round of the season at Suzuka in April, and will start ninth for Haas, ahead of Fernando Alonso - who made Q3 for the fifth time in seven attempts.
Tsunoda's reality check
Two weeks on from his best qualifying and best race result since his promotion to the Red Bull senior team, Yuki Tsunoda limped out of qualifying in Q2 in what was the only real upset throughout the two elimination phases of the session.
He bailed out of his final run in Q2 and that consigned him to 15th.
Joining him in exiting in Q2 were Nico Hulkenberg - denied a first Q3 appearance of the season by Leclerc's late improvement - Williams pair Alex Albon and Carlos Sainz, and Liam Lawson.
Gabriel Bortoleto was fastest of those eliminated in Q1, bringing to an end a seven-weekend run of outqualifying Sauber team-mate Hulkenberg.
The Williams duo were later disqualified for rear wing infringements.
Qualifying results
1 George Russell (Mercedes) 1m29.158s
2 Max Verstappen (Red Bull) 1m29.340s
3 Oscar Piastri (McLaren) 1m29.524s
4 Kimi Antonelli (Mercedes) 1m29.761s
5 Lando Norris (McLaren) 1m29.586s
6 Lewis Hamilton (Ferrari) 1m29.688s
7 Charles Leclerc (Ferrari) 1m29.784s
8 Isack Hadjar (Racing Bulls) 1m29.846s
9 Ollie Bearman (Haas) 1m29.868s
10 Fernando Alonso (Aston Martin) 1m29.955s
11 Nico Hulkenberg (Sauber) 1m30.141s
12 Liam Lawson (Racing Bulls) 1m30.320s
13 Yuki Tsunoda (Red Bull) 1m30.353s
14 Gabriel Bortoleto (Sauber) 1m30.820s
15 Lance Stroll (Aston Martin) 1m30.949s
16 Franco Colapinto (Alpine) 1m30.982s
17 Esteban Ocon (Haas) 1m30.989s
18 Pierre Gasly (Alpine) 1m31.261s
DSQ Alex Albon (Williams) 1m30.202s
DSQ Carlos Sainz (Williams) 1m30.235s
