Ricciardo was bundled out of the session in Qualifying 1 while RB team-mate Yuki Tsunoda delivered eighth in the other car.

It left Ricciardo dejected and confused with the result coming at a critical time for his future.

Behind Norris, Max Verstappen seconds second from Lewis Hamilton in third, while Oscar Piastri will take the start in Sunday’s race from fifth.

An aggressive initial lap from Charles Leclerc saw the Ferrari driver go fastest but almost leave the Ferrari in the wall.

He’d endured a difficult final practice session in which his prodigious Friday pace had disappeared.

His initial 1:30.896s was therefore as much an early benchmark as it was a means of confirming the car he had under him.

That initial lap left him seven-tenths clear of Sergio Perez who had been second fastest, before Lando Norris went fastest, just over a tenth quicker that Leclerc soon after.

Still, it was a promising start from one side of the Ferrari garage, as Carlos Sainz on the other battled oversteer at Turn 1 that forced him to abandon his first lap.

An improved time from Leclerc followed midway through the first segment, all but matching Norris, while Sainz managed the sixth-best time once he completed a lap.

Only it didn’t last. The game quickly moved on, leaving the Ferrari duo in its wake.

Leclerc fell to 11th while only a late lap from Sainz saved him from elimination – his improvement pushed Daniel Ricciardo into the bottom five.

The Spaniard rose to sixth, behind Lewis Hamilton and Sergio Perez, while George Russell complained about tyres as he struggled for pace to end the segment only 13th in the second Mercedes.

Missing the cut were Esteban Ocon, Ricciardo, Lance Stroll, Pierre Gasly, Valtteri Bottas, and Zhou Guanyu.

It was a disaster for Ricciardo, who’d shown a strong pace on Friday, especially as Yuki Tsunoda progressed with the 10th-best time.

The Japanese driver was little more than three-tenths faster, while the gap from fifth to 19th was less than a second.

Perez opened Qualifying 2 with a 1:30.653s, a time that all but equalled his Q1 effort.

It lasted mere seconds as Verstappen soon went three-tenths faster, despite a scare at the final corner – a moment which ultimately saw his lap deleted.

Even had it counted, it would have been no match for Norris, who banked a 1:30.007s out the gates to stand on provisional pole.

Like in Qualifying 1, Leclerc’s initial lap showed promise as he sat second, two-tenths slowed than Norris, but ahead of Piastri in the other McLaren.

Then came Nico Hulkenberg for Haas and Tsunoda after the initial runs, while Kevin Magnussen was also in the top 10 in the second Haas.

Slightly off sequence, Mercedes rose to the top with Hamilton going fastest on a 1:29.929s, followed by a marginally happier Russell in third, just over two-tenths slower.

His first lap deleted, Verstappen headed back out with six minutes remaining, the only car on track at the time.

It netted positive results, the Red Bull Racing driver shooting to the top of the timesheets with a 1:29.680s.

He returned to the pits as the remainder of the field headed back out, the championship leader hoping it would be enough for him to progress.

Though a gamble, it was an educated one; Perez in 10th was a full second slower, but others in the mix were unlikely to have enough to usurp the leading Red Bull.

Piastri did, stealing provisional pole, with Leclerc slotting in just behind in third.

Hamilton fell to fourth at the chequered flag, then came Norris and Sainz, while Hulkenberg progressed in seventh, Russell eighth, Tsunoda ninth and Fernando Alonso 10th.

Missing out were the two Williams drivers, Alex Albon ahead of Franco Colapinto, Perez, Magnussen, and Ocon.

Qualifying 3 was quickly red flagged when Carlos Sainz spun into the wall at the final corner.

The Ferrari driver lost the car, which backed into the tec-pro barrier to eliminate the Spaniard from the session.

The session resumed with eight minutes remaining, the field taking its time to trundle out to set just a single flying lap.

Only Piastri and Hulkenberg had managed a time before the Sainz red flag, making for an all-or-nothing bonanza for the other seven remaining drivers.

With his one lap, Norris set a blistering 1:29.525s, faster than his team-mate by four-tenths.

Leclerc couldn’t match it, he couldn’t even beat Hulkenberg, and sat fourth fastest as he flashed across the line.

He was quickly bundled down the other as others went faster; first Hamilton, then Russell and Verstappen.

Worse was to come, the Ferrari driver’s time was deleted for track limits at Turn 2, relegating him to ninth.

The result leaves the two championship contenders on the front row, and an uphill battle for Ricciardo from the eighth row.