Verstappen headed Charles Leclerc by 0.3s while Fernando Alonso will start from the second row – 0.7s clear of his Aston Martin team-mate.

Oscar Piastri will line up one place further back in fifth, while Daniel Ricciardo could do not better than 14th.

Meanwhile, Oliver Bearman, in his first F1 qualifying session, was 11th fastest.

Both Mercedes drivers headed out on the medium tyres as the Qualifying 1 went green.

Alonso was the initial pace-setter with a 1:28.876s, though both Red Bull Racing drivers had remained in the garage.

So too had the RB pair, and Zhou Guanyu as Sauber worked feverishly to repair his C44 after a heavy crash late in Free Practice 3.

Bearman recorded a 1:30.136s with his first lap in an F1 qualifying session, 1.1s slower than team-mate Leclerc managed.

Piastri went fastest despite a wobble exiting the final corner where he brushed the wall with the rear wheel, which dragged the front along the barrier too but clearly had little impact.

A second lap from Bearman saw the Englishman shoot to fourth fastest, 0.2s off the pace of pia, with a 1:29.984s.

With 10 minutes completed, Verstappen went fastest with a 1:28.491s on his first lap in the session.

Less than two minutes remained when Zhou finally emerged from the Sauber garage.

As he did, Leclerc sat fastest with a 1:28.318s as the final flurry of activity in Qualifying 1 began.

Logan Sargeant was the first driver eliminated as the American recorded only the 18th best time with a minute remaining.

Zhou didn’t make it around in time and was not able to start his flying lap, leaving him at the foot of the timesheets.

Pierre Gasly was only 18th, behind team-mate Esteban Ocon and Valtteri Bottas.

Bearman progressed despite abandoning his final lap, the 18-year-old ninth fastest.

In the early moments of Qualifying 2, Nico Hulkenberg ground to a halt reporting a loss of power.

The German had benefitted from a slipstream down the front straight from team-mate Kevin Magnussen before stopping at Turn 8 to draw the red flags.

It was a simple recovery and running resumed just five minutes after the interruption.

Only George Russell, Lando Norris, Hamilton, and Piastri had set representative lap times prior to the stoppage.

Hamilton headed back out on scrubbed tyres, while Leclerc opted for a new set of softs.

Predictably, times tumbled. Perez went fastest, briefly, before Verstappen usurped his team-mate by 0.461s.

However, that advantage shrunk to just 0.044s when Alonso recorded his first Q2 lap.

Piastri began his second flying lap of the segment with five minutes remaining, a sluggish final sector leaving him fourth with a 1:28.483s.

In the drop zone with two minutes left were Bearman, Magnussen, Ricciardo, Albon, with Hulkenberg already effectively eliminated.

Confident his 1:28.122s was good enough, Alonso was then only one of the 14 remaining runners (Hulkenberg excluded) not to head back out.

Albon’s final effort was not good enough and he remained 12th, and Magnussen 13th.

In 14th, Ricciardo wasn’t able to improve either and found himself eliminated, half a second slower than Yuki Tsunoda who progressed in eighth.

Bearman joined them on the sidelines as he ended Qualifying 2 11th fastest, 0.036s off the pace of Hamilton who ended the session 10th.

All 10 remaining drivers headed out as Qualifying 3 began.

The opening laps saw Russell fastest from Piastri and Norris, with Hamilton fourth.

Perez then went quickest by some 0.5s with Alonso slotting in second best 0.2s away.

It was then Verstappen’s turn, the Dutchman going more than 0.3s faster than anyone else to claim provisional pole.

Having opted for a second build lap, Leclerc ran out of sequence with his first timed lap.

Down on Verstappen, he remained in contention for somewhere towards the front of the field, closing the fourth fastest time, 0.8s away from provisional pole.

The second runs began early, starting their out laps with three minutes remaining.

A poor start to the lap for Hamilton saw the seven-time champ 0.6s down to the first split, while Russell aborted his attempt.

As Hamilton completed his lap, which was only good enough for seventh, Alonso tucked in behind the Mercedes and used the slipstream to begin his own lap.

Piastri rose to fourth as the Spaniard did so, beating team-mate Norris, while Russell boxed after his aborted lap.

Perez improved to 1:27.832s, a time that proved only good enough for third as Leclerc went 0.04s faster than the Red Bull Racing.

Alonso could do no better on his final lap to remain fourth with Verstappen on pole.