CHENNAI: World champion Verstappen dominated qualifying in the rain and beat Leclerc by 0.595 seconds but has a 10-place grid penalty for exceeding his permitted number of engine components.
Red Bull’s Sergio Perez was third fastest, so will be promoted to the front row alongside Leclerc.
Lewis Hamilton will start third for Mercedes, ahead of the McLarens of Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri.
Mercedes’ George Russell was seventh fastest, from Ferrari’s Carlos Sainz, Aston Martin’s Fernando Alonso and the Alpine of Esteban Ocon.
Verstappen came to Belgium for the final race before the summer break on the back of a shaky run of form, with McLaren appearing to have seized the ascendancy in Formula 1.
But he was in imperious form on his favourite track, where he has won the past three years, and always seemed to destined to be fastest.
The conditions were tricky. The track was wet at the start of qualifying, and persistent light rain kept it that way throughout, but the weather never deteriorated to the point that the session was at risk of being stopped - the amount of spray was limited and drivers were always able to see where they were going.