Verstappen, who put a scruffy start to the weekend behind him, pipped Leclerc by just 0.021s with his last-gasp effort, with Carlos Sainz also within a tenth of a second off the lead Red Bull for Ferrari.

Lewis Hamilton was in the fight throughout an enthralling shootout and may have had a shot at pole position but was denied a chance after a dramatic spin at the penultimate corner for Sergio Perez brought out yellow flags.

• Dutch GP: Final qualifying results
• Race at 2pm on Sunday: Full schedule on Sky Sports
• Piastri opens up on 'bizarre and upsetting' Alpine exit

Hamilton would eventually finish three-tenths off in fourth, while George Russell was also hampered by Perez's error and finished behind the other Red Bull in sixth.

" It's very frustrating - we were a second up on Leclerc and Verstappen so Lewis was on for pole," insisted team boss Toto Wolff.

Verstappen, meanwhile, said: "Unbelievable. It's special. Especially after yesterday as well. We had a difficult day but we worked really well over night with the whole team to turn it around."

A sell-out sea of orange were cheering on their world champion Verstappen on Saturday, and at one stage in qualifying it went a step too far as a flare was thrown on the track to cause a red flag.

But Verstappen was right up against it to claim pole in the dying embers of the session, with Leclerc having claimed provisional pole with his first lap of Q3 before following it up with another improvement.

Verstappen was down on his title rival at the start of his critical lap but put in a blistering middle sector to help him to his fourth pole of 2022, prompting wild scenes in the grandstands.

Verstappen, who holds a 93-point title lead and is well on his way to defending his crown, will be aiming for his 10th win of the season on Sunday.

Dutch GP Qualifying: Top 10
1) Max Verstappen, Red Bull
2) Charles Leclerc, Ferrari
3) Carlos Sainz, Ferrari
4) Lewis Hamilton, Mercedes
5) Sergio Perez, Red Bull
6) George Russell, Mercedes
7) Lando Norris, McLaren
8) Mick Schumacher, Haas
9) Yuki Tsunoda, AlphaTauri
10) Lance Stroll, Aston Martin

Flares, pigeons and Ricciardo woe | The other stories from Qualy

On a weekend when McLaren won a significant battle against Alpine off the track by securing Oscar Piastri for 2023, they have also been faster on it - with Lando Norris once again stamping his star quality.

Norris, while not in the fight at the front as his pace suggested on Friday, comfortably claimed seventh place. That result was all the more impressive given Daniel Ricciardo was knocked out in Q1, his miserable form continuing.

There were three relative surprises elsewhere in the top 10 in Mick Schumacher, Yuki Tsunoda and Lance Stroll, though the Aston Martin driver was denied even setting a lap in Q3 due to a car issue.

Both Alpines were surprisingly knocked out in Q2 - with Fernando Alonso blaming Red Bull's Perez for getting in the way of his lap - while the second segment also played host to a bizarre sequence of events.

Alex Albon was the only driver out at the start of Q2 when red flags were waved due to an orange flare being thrown from the stands onto the track, while the Williams driver also complained that pigeons were disrupting him.

The flare, and the perpetrator, were quickly removed, while an F1 marshal also chased away the pigeons.

The shock exit from Q1 along with Ricciardo was Sebastian Vettel, with the soon-to-be-retiring Aston Martin legend running off into the gravel on his final effort.

Mercedes' missed chance and Rosberg's race prediction

Five drivers were tipped to be in the battle for pole on Saturday and even in the final stages those five - Verstappen, Leclerc, Sainz, Hamilton and Russell - had a chance.

But while the first three managed to complete their final laps without disruption, that wasn't the case for the Mercedes drivers after Perez's late spin.

"To be going through Q1 and Q2 and only being a tenth behind a Red Bull was a great feeling," said Hamilton. "It really gave me a lot of hope that I could fight for the front row but obviously the yellow flag at the end was a bit unfortunate."

Mercedes boss Toto Wolff went a step further afterwards by insisting Hamilton had pole in the bag.

But as Sky Sports F1's Nico Rosberg said, Mercedes' pace in qualifying and Ferrari's similarly improved showing spices up Sunday's race, which is all live on Sky Sports F1 at 2pm with build-up from 12.30pm.

"Still Max has track position so you probably say he has to be the favourite, also he's just generally on it and in such great form as a driver," said Rosberg, the 2016 world champion.

"But it's going to be very interesting because Ferrari are likely to split the strategy, and let's see if Lewis can play a role there as well.

"If Mercedes find the usual pace improvement from qualifying to race, or even just a fraction of that, Lewis is going to be right in there putting big pressure on. And Lewis is quick in races as we know.

"So I think we're in for a really really exciting one, and I can't wait to see how it turns out."