World champion Max Verstappen claimed a 100th pole position for Red Bull ahead of team-mate Sergio Perez at the Chinese Grand Prix where he won a sprint race a few hours earlier.
Verstappen maintained his perfect qualifying season record for a regular grand prix when he clocked 1 minute 33.660 seconds on the 5.451-kilometre Shanghai International Circuit.
Perez trailed by .322 of a second and Fernando Alonso will be third on Sunday's grid for Aston Martin.
The second part of qualifying was red flagged after Ferrari's Carlos Sainz spun off and hit the barriers but the Spaniard was able to return to the pits and continue with a new front wing, eventually placing seventh, behind team-mate Charles Leclerc.
Seven time world champion Lewis Hamilton of Mercedes went through all emotions on the day when he finished second in the sprint race but then third last in a qualifying to forget.
Verstappen has won three of the four grands prix races, and after leads the standings 15 points from Perez who was third in the sprint.