Verstappen, who has a six-point lead over Hamilton in the 2021 championship, claimed his ninth pole of the season with a time of 1 minute 32.910 seconds on his final lap at the Circuit of the Americas in Austin, Texas.
Two tenths of the Dutchman was Hamilton. “Checo” Pérez, who fought to the end for his first pole in Formula 1, finished 0.15 seconds behind Hamilton.
The Circuit of the Americas will thus experience a new duel between Verstappen, who is seeking his first title at the age of 24, and Hamilton, seven times world champion.
The Dutchman leads by six points with six races remaining on the calendar, but the Briton has prevailed in five of the eight events held at the Austin circuit since his Formula 1 debut in 2012.
Verstappen, meanwhile, has achieved a fourth, third and second position at this circuit.
Hamilton and Verstappen have had a tense duel for months It grew hot Friday when they fought an explosive head-to-head down the stretch in Austin.
Verstappen later insulted Hamilton from the car and showed him the middle finger for not letting him pass before a curve.
The remainder of the top half of Sunday’s grid will be made up of Monegasque Charles Leclerc and Spaniard Carlos Sainz, both from Ferrari, followed by Daniel Ricciardo and Lando Norris in McLaren cars.
Finn Valtteri Bottas (Mercedes) was the fourth fastest driver but will drop to ninth on the grid due to an engine change.
The Spanish Fernando Alonso (Alpine), double world champion, finished in 14th place and will start on Sunday from the final part for his fourth engine change of the season.
Each driver is only allowed three changes during the campaign, for which Alonso received an automatic sanction.
The Austin race marks the return of Formula 1 to the United States after this Grand Prix was suspended last season due to the Covid-19 pandemic.
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