Verstappen took the lead after the first tests in Q3 with 1m28.991s, with Leclerc and Sainz lagging behind – only 0.080s covered all three.
In the final runs, Leclerc led the group and had his personal best time from the start, then took the best time in the middleweight division to shine to 1m28.796s.
Running back, Sainz recorded a stunning first sector 0.2 seconds faster than his teammate, but he lost time until the lap continued and eventually deviated 0.190 seconds.
But that was enough to overtake him once before Verstappen’s run, which secured second place in the grid for Sunday’s race, as the Red Bull driver abandoned his last effort.
Verstappen had to catch the massive over-turn he encountered after throwing his RB18 through the fast, running 5/6 turns, sliding into the last corner and winding 0.6s down onto Leclerc in Sector 1 – then he headed back to the final. line and accepting his defeat with a note that he “fucked” him.
Sergio Perez finished fourth in the second Red Bull ahead of Valteri Botas of Alfa Romeo and Mercedes driver Lewis Hamilton.
Pierre Gasley finished seventh, with Lando Norris, Yuki Tsunoda and Lance Stroll rounding out the top 10.
Carlos Sainz, Ferrari F1-75
Photo: Carl Bingham / Motorsport Images
In the second quarter, Fernando Alonso put his best time right at the end, but could not reach the top 10 on penalties as he was eliminated in 11th place, ahead of FP2 pacemaker George Russell.
Russell went through most of Q2 without time on board, struggling with incredible moments of excessive turning through the current first sector of the track and guinea pigs elsewhere, but finally reached the top 10 with his last effort.
But that came almost two minutes before the middle of the qualifiers, and he didn’t have enough time to return to the new tire pits, so he was shifted down the line and eliminated.
He finished in front of Sebastian Vettel, who regretted the lost time, escaping the chicane at the end of the second sector for his result in 13th place, ahead of Daniel Ricciardo from McLaren and Haas driver Mick Schumacher.
In the first quarter, a wave of late improvements from several pilots who faded after an early run – including Hamilton and Alonso – shifted Kevin Magnussen to 16th and out.
Zhou Guanyu was knocked out on the 17th, frustrated by the heavy traffic in the last turns of his last flying lap, describing the scenes as “dangerous” and urging Alpha to report the incident to the FIA.
Williams had hoped that Alex Albon could repeat his strong FP3 speed, where he finished ninth, but regretted that he did not set the best times in the last two sectors of his last lap, which left him in 18th place.
Max Verstappen, Red Bull Racing RB18
Photo: Zak Mauger / Motorsport Images
This was in front of Nicholas Latifi in the other Williams, who set a personal record right at the end of Q1, but could not climb from the back row of the grid for Sunday’s race.
Esteban Ocon did not take part in the qualifiers after a crack was found in his chassis after his severe crash at the FP3 show, and as a result he will start the race last.
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