Although a dry line had emerged by the start of Q2, offering drivers to take a chance on running with soft tyres, the conditions had worsened by the start of the final part of qualifying and the rain picked up in intensity.
Armed with intermediate rubber, Verstappen collected a 1m27.059s with his first lap of the session, as Fernando Alonso got to within 0.25s of the championship leader's opener in their respective opening gambits.
But although rain continued to fall, Verstappen found enough tyre temperature to produce a 1m25.858s, although Alonso had eclipsed the Dutchman's second sector in his follow-up effort.
But the session was red-flagged, as Oscar Piastri took too much throttle on the exit of Turn 7 and backed his car into the wall, breaking the right-rear corner of his McLaren.
Hulkenberg managed to put in a time good enough for second moments before the red flag emerged, but Alonso was unable to complete his lap and had to retreat to the pits.
The session resumed with seven minutes left on the clock, but the continued precipitation dampened any chances that the drivers could improve in the final half of the session.
Token running thereafter confirmed that, with some of the drivers remarking that the session could only be tackled with the full-wet tyre.
Alonso claimed the third-fastest time having been denied another shot to beat Verstappen, and starts on the second row alongside Lewis Hamilton.
Source: Autosport