Verstappen struggled in final practice earlier on Saturday before taking a 12th pole position of the season.
The world champion and his dominant Red Bull team had looked out of sorts in final practice earlier on Saturday but ultimately found the right setup to outpace all of his challengers for the final pole of the 2023 season.
The Red Bull driver secured his 12th pole of the season with a dominant lap time of 1:23.445, edging out Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc by just 0.139 seconds. McLaren’s Oscar Piastri impressed with a third-place finish.
“I’m very happy to be on pole, I didn’t expect it,” said Verstappen post qualifying. “The weekend so far has been a bit tricky but we definitely improved the car for Qualifying, we did everything we could. From lap one the RB19 seemed more together and we could definitely push more, it felt miles better than in practice. It’s been a very special season, we’ve been enjoying it a lot and we’re really proud of what we’ve achieved. We’ll try to have a good start tomorrow, focus on our own race and hopefully end the season on a high.”
The session saw surprising eliminations, as Mercedes’ Lewis Hamilton failed to progress beyond Q2 and had to settle for 11th place on the grid. Ferrari’s Carlos Sainz also suffered an early exit, finishing in 16th position. Sergio Perez initially claimed sixth place but had his final flying lap deleted due to exceeding track limits, pushing him down to ninth.
George Russell showcased his talent by securing fourth place for Mercedes, while his teammate Hamilton struggled to find pace. Lando Norris, who looked strong throughout qualifying, ended up in fifth position after a wild moment on his final run.
AlphaTauri’s Yuki Tsunoda continued to impress with a solid sixth-place finish, followed by Fernando Alonso for Aston Martin in seventh. Nico Hulkenberg secured eighth place for Haas, while Pierre Gasly rounded out the top 10 for AlphaTauri.
However, there could be a twist in the tale after qualifying, with both Piastri and Gasly under investigation by the stewards over an apparent impeding incident during the closing stages of the session.
With Verstappen starting from pole position, all eyes will be on him as he aims to end the season in dominant fashion. Leclerc’s strong performance gives Ferrari hopes for closing the gap to Mercedes in the Constructors’ Championship.