A rapid-fire final 10 minutes, produced by improving track conditions as the morning's heavy rain subsided, ended with Verstappen embarking on a series of quick runs having found much in the way of confidence on a drying track.
Lando Norris had assumed control over the session with around 20 minutes to go after trading places with McLaren team-mate Oscar Piastri at the top, but Verstappen lodged a 1m22.758s to sit in first overall.
Russell then challenged but fell short by about 0.02s, and Verstappen subsequently cemented his advantage having set a 1m21.631s on his next timed lap.
A third attempt ultimately came to naught as Verstappen went into the gravel at Turn 11, but his second sector had not been an improvement in any case.
Incidents for Kevin Magnussen, Zhou Guanyu, and rookie Liam Lawson produced stoppages in the session as the drivers were forced to cope with treacherous conditions following the morning rain.
Magnussen produced the first red flag after a slide at Turn 3, having lost the rear early on in his outlap on the intermediate tyres to dump his car into the exit wall.
After the hiatus in running to clear the stricken Haas, Charles Leclerc then vaulted to the top on the wet tyre having posted a 1m27.238s to displace Verstappen, but very nearly torpedoed into the wall at Turn 1 moments after crossing the line. The Monegasque just about kept the car out of the barrier, but had to take the long way around to return to the circuit.
Source: Autosport