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.
