The Shanghai International Circuit lap record was broken for the second time in as many days on Saturday, as Oscar Piastri took his first ever Formula 1 pole position.
McLaren were denied a front row lockout by a brilliant late lap from George Russell though, the Mercedes driver splitting the papaya cars at the death.
Liam Lawson's disastrous start to his Red Bull career has continued, qualifying slowest of all 20 drivers for the second time in as many days.
The New Zealander fought back up to 14th in Saturday morning's sprint race, spiking some hope of a revival in qualifying for Sunday's feature race, but the afternoon went off the rails once again.
Jack Doohan's prospects of keeping his Alpine seat ahead of highly touted prospect Franco Colapinto were delivered another blow by his own hands, spinning off the track to damage his chances of getting a good banker lap in, and qualifying just 18th.
Meanwhile, the Racing Bulls pair of Isack Hadjar and Yuki Tsunoda both made it into the top 10 on the grid.