Sainz converted his practice pace into pole position at Ferrari’s home race, beating Max Verstappen by just 0.013s in a thrilling qualifying.
Charles Leclerc also narrowly missed out in third, just 0.067s off pole, which sets up a Ferrari fight against Verstappen who is aiming for a record-breaking 10th consecutive F1 win.
Ferrari was made to sweat over a potential penalty for out-lap times in Q1 which broke race director instructions, but both drivers were cleared of wrongdoing moments after Sainz secured pole.
George Russell took fourth for Mercedes ahead of Sergio Perez in the other Red Bull, as Alex Albon continued to impress for Williams in sixth.
Oscar Piastri qualified seventh ahead of Lewis Hamilton and Lando Norris, as Fernando Alonso rounded out the Q3 runners in 10th.
The 14th round of the 2023 F1 season, the Italian GP at Monza, gets under way at 3:00pm local time (2:00pm BST) on Sunday 3 September.
Source: Autosport