The Red Bull drivers were amongst just a handful of drivers to gain time on the second runs in Q3, where Ferrari’s challenge failed to materialise and the Mercedes drivers ended up behind Aston Martin’s Fernando Alonso.
Verstappen led the way on a 1m28.240s on the first Q3 fliers, where Norris was his closest challenger after producing a then session-best opening sector.
But he could not replicate that on the second attempts, where Perez, leading Verstappen on the track, snuck ahead of the McLaren, while the world champion in the other RB20 blitzed to a pole-securing 1m28.197s – largely thanks to a blistering first sector.
Behind the top three came Carlos Sainz for Ferrari, ahead of Alonso and Oscar Piastri in the other McLaren.
Lewis Hamilton looked to be getting close to Red Bull with his pace late in Q2 but faded to just seventh for Mercedes, with Charles Leclerc taking eighth.
The second Ferrari driver had a unique Q3 in producing just a sole flier ahead of the rest going for a second attempt, as he had to use a second set of tyres to escape Q1 earlier in qualifying.
Source: Autosport