The Dutchman was only fastest through the first sector, with George Russell best through the middle of the lap and Sergio Perez in the second Red Bull Racing entry quickest in the final third.
Despite that mix, Fernando Alonso was second quickest, 0.186s away from Verstappen, with Perez third ahead of Russell.
Windy conditions greeted drivers as opening practice began, with much of the field heading out in the early moments.
That included Carlos Sainz, who’d been under a cloud after coming down unwell on Wednesday in Jeddah.
The Spaniard had missed his media session, and Ferrari had put reserve driver Oliver Bearman on standby, only confirming Sainz’s participation in the session 15 minutes before it began.
After eight minutes, every driver had recorded a time, Lando Norris fastest for McLaren.
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Times were dropping quickly, with Alonso shooting to the top of the timesheets with a 1:30.961s – a lap 0.843s better than Norris had recorded.
At Alpine, Esteban Ocon reported bouncing in the first sector while Lance Stroll brushed the front-left wheel on the wall, though was able to carry on back to the pits.
A mixture of hard and medium compound rubber was in use, Mercedes opting for the white-walled tyres for Russell who’d gone fastest after 18 minutes on a 1:30.554s.
Behind him was Verstappen and then Leclerc in second and third fastest, respectively.
Russell’s team-mate, Lewis Hamilton, was another to complain about bouncing as he sat fifth fastest, 0.4s away from the pace.
Verstappen was also unhappy with his car, highlighting rear-end instability in the Red Bull Racing entry following a big slide at Turn 16.
Midway through the session, several drivers opted for the soft compound tyres.
Valtteri Bottas, Alex Albon, Norris, and Logan Sargeant all fitted a set of the red-walled rubber, Bottas climbing to ninth.
Norris moved to the top of the timesheets with a 1:30.424s, a time only 0.130s better than Russell’s effort on the hard rubber.
Conditions remained a variable as the session took place in the afternoon sun, where qualifying and the race will occur under lights.
Verstappen headed out on a set of soft tyres just after the halfway mark.
The championship leader immediately went faster than anyone through the first sector but only managed a personal best through the middle third of the lap.
Nonetheless, he flashed across the line with a 1:30.014s.
It wasn’t as fast as it was predicted to be, with Russell demonstrating as much as he went 0.003s faster than the Red Bull Racing driver- the Mercedes 0.183s quicker through the middle of the lap.
Minutes later, Verstappen went for another lap, improving to 1:29.659s – a time more representative of the same session a year ago.
It signalled the start of the soft tyre runs and saw the order change repeatedly.
Sainz sat third best with 17 minutes to run, then Norris and Hamilton, who dropped 0.3s through the first sector alone.
Leclerc then improved to slot in third, only for that to become fourth when Perez completed his performance run to slot in second behind his team-mate.
Inside the final 10 minutes, Alonso split the two Red Bull Racing cars while Oscar Piastri headed out on a set of the soft tyres.
With six minutes remaining, Daniel Ricciardo rose to 12th place, 1.286s away from the outright pace.
However, his lap came on the medium tyres, unlike the softs which all the fast runners favoured.
Haas was also focused on long runs as they sat at the foot of the timesheets, both Kevin Magnussen and Nico Hulkenberg nearly two seconds away from Verstappen.
All 20 drivers were on track as the chequered flag waved, though none were improving to leave Verstappen fastest from Alonso, Perez, Russell, Leclerc, Sainz, Norris, Hamilton, Stroll, and Albon.
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