Then disaster struck for Alpine as Esteban Ocon and Pierre Gasly will start tomorrow’s Grand Prix in 19th and 20th, with Valtteri Bottas, Zhou Guanyu and Logan Sargeant all also out in Q1.
Plenty of talk prior to qualifying was about how the gap had been closed to Red Bull and Verstappen, but he was half a second clear of the field in the opening Q2 lap before more congestion in the pit lane that will be looked at by race officials.
Ferrari and Leclerc then backed up their pre-race expectations, having gone fastest in Q2 with 1:29.165 ahead of Verstappen, with both Mercedes drivers going fourth and seventh in the final moments.
Their fortunes changed in the final session but neither were enough to get close Verstappen and Leclerc, who may be the two to catch this season.