Yuki Tsunoda kept alive his slim hopes in the FIA Formula 2 title race by snatching pole position for the Feature Race in Bahrain.
Haas F1-bound Nikita Mazepin joined the Japanese driver on the front row and is also still in the hunt for the championship.
Third is Jehan Daruvala, making it two Carlin drivers in the top three on the grid ahead of Robert Shwartzman in fourth but the Russian is now out of contention for the F2 title this season.
Felipe Drugovich was fifth ahead of Christian Lundgaard, Artem Markelov and Dan Ticktum.
Callum Ilott, who is second in the championship, was ninth while the favourite Mick Schumacher was on the receiving end of a collision with Roy Nissany at the penultimate turn on his last run.
A red flag brought the final qualifying session of the year to a close and the German will start in 18th place and under investigation for the contact.
Schumacher only needs to outscore Ilott by four points in the Feature Race to seal the title with a race to spare.
The Feature Race begins at 15:10 local time on Saturday.
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