Lewis Hamilton has edged out Mercedes teammate Nico Rosberg in Texas to earn pole position at the United States Grand Prix.
The Englishman requires victory in Sunday's race to keep his championship hopes alive, as he trails his title rival by 33 points with 100 still available.
Hamilton, who came out on top in the first practice session but slipped down the pecking order in the second, finished 0.216s ahead of Rosberg to give himself a strong chance of prolonging his championship hopes.
Rosberg knows full well that his teammate has had numerous slow starts already this season, though, and he claimed second place in qualifying to ensure that he will remain hot on Hamilton's heels at the Circuit of the Americas.
Red Bull's Daniel Ricciardo will start this evening's race from second, having pipped teammate Max Verstappen and finished ahead of Ferrari pair Kimi Raikkonen and Sebastian Vettel.
There was further disappointment for McLaren, meanwhile, as they failed to make it through into the final session for the second race in succession - Jenson Button eliminated in the first and Fernando Alonso qualifying in 12th.
Qualifying results in full:
1. Lewis Hamilton (Mercedes)
2. Nico Rosberg (Mercedes)
3. Daniel Ricciardo (Red Bull)
4. Max Verstappen (Red Bull)
5. Kimi Raikkonen (Ferrari)
6. Sebastian Vettel (Ferrari)
7. Nico Hulkenberg (Force India)
8. Valtteri Bottas (Williams)
9. Felipe Massa (Williams)
10. Carlos Sainz Jr (Toro Rosso)
11. Sergio Perez (Force India)
12. Fernando Alonso (McLaren)
13. Daniil Kvyat (Toro Rosso)
14. Esteban Gutierrez (Haas)
15. Jolyon Palmer (Renault)
16. Marcus Ericsson (Sauber)
17. Romain Grosjean (Haas)
18. Kevin Magnussen (Renault)
19. Jenson Button (McLaren)
20. Pascal Wehrlein (Manor)
21. Felipe Nasr (Sauber)
22. Esteban Ocon (Manor)
Daniel Lewis
