Red Bull's championship leader Max Verstappen flew to pole position at the Spanish Grand Prix on Saturday with Ferrari's Carlos Sainz joining him on the front row after a dramatic qualifying.

Verstappen was nearly half a second clear of the Spaniard and so good was his first lap in the final phase that he aborted the second once it became clear nobody else was going to beat him.

"The car was on rails," said the happy Dutch driver, who took his first Formula One win at Barcelona's Circuit de Catalunya in 2016 and also triumphed last year.

"It was really enjoyable to drive today."

McLaren's Lando Norris qualified third in a dramatic and surprising session with Alpine's Pierre Gasly an impressive fourth but under investigation for two counts of suspected impeding.

Red Bull's Sergio Perez, Verstappen's closest title rival but 39 points behind after six races, qualified only 11th after a trip into the gravel while Ferrari's Charles Leclerc will start a shock 19th on the grid.

Seven-time world champion Lewis Hamilton will line up fifth for Mercedes.

Six different teams filled the top-six positions, with Canadian Lance Stroll qualifying sixth and ahead of Aston Martin teammate Fernando Alonso, in ninth, for the first time this season.