Lewis Hamilton placed his McLaren on pole position for the floodlit first Abu Dhabi Grand Prix yesterday to leave new champion Jenson Button and other rivals reeling in his wake.
Formula One's outgoing world champion grabbed the 17th pole of his 52-race career to knock Red Bull's Sebastian Vettel into second place at the glittering new Yas Marina circuit that hosts today's season-ender.
Briton Hamilton was nearly 0.7 seconds quicker than Vettel in final qualifying and, despite his car being 4.5kg lighter on fuel than the German, should run away with the sport's first day-to-night race.
Fellow Briton Button, who clinched the title in Brazil with a race to spare, will line up fifth after complaining of juddering when he hit the brakes in the final session.
"The car's been probably the best it has been all year," Hamilton told a news conference.
"It seems to really feel quite comfortable on this circuit," added the 24-year-old winner of two races after a slow start to the season.
"What they've done here is just incredible and it's just a real pleasure to drive here."
While both titles have been decided already in favour of Button and Brawn GP, McLaren are only a point ahead of Ferrari in third place in the constructors' standings with significant prize money at stake.
Hamilton can count on the KERS energy recovery system he said offered an advantage of three to four tenths of a second a lap at such a circuit and that the Red Bulls and Brawns lack.
Brazilian Rubens Barrichello, fighting Vettel for second place overall, starts fourth for Brawn.
Neither Ferrari made it to the final session of qualifying, with 2007 world champion Kimi Raikkonen pegged back in 11th place on the starting grid for his last race with the Italian team.
Italian stand-in Giancarlo Fisichella, with injured Brazilian Felipe Massa looking on, qualified last for what is likely to be his final Formula One appearance before he becomes Ferrari's test driver.
Renault's double world champion Fernando Alonso, who replaces Raikkonen at Ferrari, also had a demoralising afternoon and qualified 16th although he will move up a place because McLaren's Heikki Kovalainen will get a five-place penalty.
Kovalainen qualified 13th but will pay the price for a change of gearbox.