Verstappen’s sixth grand prix pole in six races this season was never really in doubt, even if Leclerc edged into first place in the second session by 0.033secs.
Verstappen, who had not been happy with the car despite winning the sprint race earlier in the day, said: “We definitely improved the car a bit, but every year I come here I find it really difficult to be consistent with the car feeling on one lap. It is super hard to make the car feel good in sector one and sector three.
“It was the same today. But we did OK. It was not then most enjoyable lap of my career just because of how slippery it is, but we’re on pole.”
Leclerc said: “It felt so much on the limit. It was very close until Q3 when we started to push really for the limit and we lost the tyres in sector three.”
Norris, whose car has a major upgrade for this race, had shown strong pace in qualifying for the sprint race on Friday, before a mistake on his run in the final session left him at the bottom end of the top 10.
But he was never in contention at the front in qualifying on Saturday, and even tried the medium tyre in the second session, as Mercedes did in the third.
Norris ended up 0.353secs off the pace, with which McLaren were satisfied on a track where they have never been quick.
For Mercedes, seventh and eighth is becoming their new normal, but was at least an improvement on 11th and 12th in qualifying for the sprint.