ZANDVOORT, Netherlands -- Oscar Piastri secured pole position for Sunday's Dutch Grand Prix after beating his McLaren teammate and title rival Lando Norris to the fastest time in qualifying by 0.012 seconds.
Norris had looked like the favorite for pole throughout free practice, but Piastri found the smallest of margins over his teammate when it mattered in Q3.
The superior pace of the McLaren allowed the two teammates to engage in a private battle over the front row of the grid, but strong winds in Q3 meant they both failed to improve with their final laps.
"That was the definition of peaking at the right time," Piastri said afterward. "The whole weekend I felt good, there had just been a couple of corners I had not been able to go any faster. I didn't really go faster in those corners but found some more elsewhere. Super happy to come away with this result.
"It was looking like a tricky weekend so to come out with that, I'm pretty stoked."
He added: "We [Norris and I] are both trying to beat each other every weekend. There's a few variables in there that you can mix up, so let's see what happens tomorrow."
Meanwhile Norris said it was a close battle. "It's been close the whole weekend, so easily could go one way or the other.
"I guess a little bit disappointed that I'm not on pole, but it was close, was still some decent laps, so not the end of the world either."
Piastri currently leads Norris by nine points in the drivers' standings, with the opportunity to extend that margin back into double figures with victory in Sunday's race at Zandvoort.
Reigning champion Max Verstappen secured third on the grid in front of his home crowd after he dragged his Red Bull to within 0.263 seconds of Piastri's fastest lap.
Verstappen appeared to struggle for performance during practice, but found his signature improvement when it mattered in Saturday's qualifying.
"To be P3, I'm very happy with that," Verstappen said. "The energy of the crowd has been amazing and to see so much orange is always very special.
"McLaren have been very fast, so it's important to focus on our own race but this has been a good step forward so I hope we can keep that up in the race tomorrow."
Isack Hadjar secured the best qualifying result of his short career as he impressed once again in his Racing Bull.
The French rookie managed to slot into the gap between the top three and the chasing pack, beating George Russell's Mercedes by 0.126 seconds to secure fourth place.
Ferrari teammates Charles Leclerc and Lewis Hamilton, who both struggled to find a groove around Zandvoort during practice, finished qualifying in sixth and seventh on the grid, split by 0.05 seconds.
Liam Lawson secured eighth on the grid in the second Racing Bull ahead of Carlos Sainz's Williams and the Aston Martin of Fernando Alonso, which looked quick throughout practice but faded slightly in Q3.
Andrea Kimi Antonelli missed out on a place in the tip ten by 0.021 seconds and will start the race in 11th place.
Red Bull's Yuki Tsunoda and Sauber's Gabriel Bortoleto set identical times down to a thousandth of a second, but Tsunoda will start ahead of the Brazilian by virtue of setting his time earlier in the session.
Pierre Gasly will start 14th for Alpine ahead of Alexander Albon in the Williams, who finished Q2 with a frustrated radio message saying he had "no tires at all" and "why do we do it to ourselves."
Franco Colapinto missed out on a place in Q2 by 0.067 seconds in the Alpine and will start Sunday's race in 16th ahead of the Haas of Nico Hülkenberg. Of the drivers who set times, the Haas pair of Esteban Ocon and Oliver Bearman were slowest and will line up 18th and 19th on the grid.
Lance Stroll qualified last after crashing out on the entry to the final corner of his first flying lap in Q1. The Aston Martin driver put two wheels on the grass on entry to the corner, lost the rear of the car and collided with the barriers beyond the gravel trap. He was able to recover his car to the pits, but the damage proved too extensive for him to return to the track before the end of Q1.
"I just tipped a wheel on the grass, yeah, just misjudgment," Stoll said after the session. "Nothing more to say really. It's very frustrating and yeah, it sucks."