Lewis Hamilton claimed a crucial pole position at the season-ending Abu Dhabi Grand Prix as he tries to snatch the Formula One world title from Mercedes team-mate Nico Rosberg.
Hamilton produced a 1 minute 38.755 seconds lap of the 5.554-kilometre Yas Marina Course on Saturday, 0.303 seconds quicker than Rosberg who was subsequently around half a second quicker than Red Bull's Daniel Ricciardo in third.
Rosberg leads the standings 12 points ahead of the three-time champion Hamilton and would wrap up a first world title with a podium finish even if Hamilton wins Sunday's race.
But Ricciardo and team-mate Max Verstappen, who qualified sixth behind Ferrari pair Kimi Raikkonen and Sebastian Vettel, will both start on the more durable super-soft tyres while Mercedes are on ultra-softs.
Nico Hulkenberg, Sergio Perez (both Force India) and Fernando Alonso (McLaren) took the next places with Felipe Massa (Williams) starting his last race before retirement from 10th.
Hamilton had topped the timesheets in the first two practices but, with Mercedes seemingly running easy, dropped to fourth in final practice earlier Saturday.
However, in qualifying he once more dominated all three sessions and comfortably held off Rosberg to claim the 61st pole position of his career.
"[It's been] a great weekend so far," Hamilton said. "It's been strange coming here this weekend knowing it's the last one with this great car."
Hamilton claimed two of three world titles with Mercedes in the last seasons but, hampered by a number of poor starts and technical problems earlier in the campaign, now finds himself behind Rosberg despite a late winning run.
Rosberg played down his Saturday, saying he "came here to be on pole," and was "not ecstatic," but insisted "there's still opportunities tomorrow."
That attitude will be shared by Ricciardo who may struggle to match the initial pace of the Mercedes but on supers could stay out for a longer first run and improve his track position.
"Hopefully our different tyre strategy will put us in the fight tomorrow," he said. "Third was the target today so we are happy."
Jenson Button will start his McLaren from 12th in his final bow, one behind Valtteri Bottas of Williams. Esteban Gutierrez, Roman Grosjean (both Haas), Jolyon Palmer (Renault) and Pascal Wehrlein (Manor) also dropped out in second qualifying.
Daniil Kvyat (Toro Rosso), Kevin Magnussen (Renault), Felipe Nasr (Sauber), Esteban Ocon (Manor), Carlos Sainz (Toro Ross) and Marcus Ercisson (Sauber) exited in Q1.
By Martin Moravec
