The reigning champion had taken a back seat during the opening two stages of qualifying but, when it came down to Q3, he set a demanding benchmark of a 1m29.421s - and then beat his own effort amid the final runs to settle on a 1m29.179s.
This was slower than Leclerc's time from Q2, but the Monegasque was unable to replicate that effort in the final runs of the Q3 session, and could only manage a 1m29.407s as Verstappen claimed the best first sector time by two tenths.
George Russell overcame a brief scare in Q2, where he straddled the elimination zone, to find form in Q3 and worked his way up to third on the grid with a 1m29.485s.
Although Russell was placed under investigation for exceeding the maximum delta time in Q1, no further action was taken and he should hence retain his position on the second row in Saturday's race.
This put him ahead of Sainz, as the Spaniard looked rapid in Q1 but was unable to retain a similar advantage over his Ferrari team-mate Leclerc. Regardless, he will start ahead of Red Bull's Sergio Perez, as the Mexican moved up to fifth late on in the Q3 session.
Source: Autosport