Formula One championship leader Charles Leclerc took pole position for the inaugural Miami Grand Prix ahead of Ferrari team mate Carlos Sainz in a front row lockout in qualifying on Saturday.
Verstappen goes into the Formula One record books as the pole setter for the weekend, however, regardless of where he starts on Sunday.
Ferrari's Charles Leclerc qualified third with team mate Sebastian Vettel a distant seventh on a distinctly off day for the German.
Formula One champions Mercedes unveiled black-liveried cars for the 2020 season on Monday as part of a public pledge to further improve diversity within the team and the world of motorsport. Mercedes have traditionally raced in silver throughout their time in Formula One but will switch to black and have 'End Racism' emblazoned on the halo of both cars.
Lewis Hamilton tested positive for COVID-19 and was forced to miss last year's penultimate Sakhir Grand Prix in December.
Hamilton, who had also topped Saturday morning's final practice session, never look like being challenged throughout the qualifying hour.
The six times world champion took the chequered flag at Imola 5.783 seconds ahead of team mate Valtteri Bottas, who started on pole position.
The five-time world champion went from pole position to last on a chaotic afternoon, the Briton hitting the barriers and spinning before finishing 11th in a race won by Red Bull's Max Verstappen.
Red Bull's Dutch 20-year-old Max Verstappen took the chequered flag in second place with Kimi Raikkonen completing the podium for Ferrari and Australian Daniel Ricciardo finishing fourth for Red Bull.
Verstappen led from start to finish at Austria's Red Bull Ring, with seven-time world champion Hamilton second for Mercedes.
IMAGES from the Belgian F1 Grand Prix
Britain's George Russell will stand in for Lewis Hamilton at Mercedes for Sunday's Sakhir Grand Prix after being released by Williams.
Lewis Hamilton took his 98th career pole position in qualifying for the Bahrain Grand Prix on Saturday
Max Verstappen won the season-ending Abu Dhabi Formula One Grand Prix from pole position for Red Bull on Sunday.
Max Verstappen won the Spanish Grand Prix in a Red Bull one-two on Sunday
Hamilton's 98th career victory, from his 100th pole position, was his third win in four races
Lewis Hamilton lapped fastest overall for Mercedes in Hungarian Grand Prix practice
Lewis Hamilton was 'shocked' with the pace of Mercedes after notching a record-extending eighth pole position at the Australian Grand Prix ahead of team mate Valtteri Bottas as they thrashed their Formula One rivals in qualifying on Saturday.
Lewis Hamilton aims to stay in F1 for at least three more years
Seven times world champion Lewis Hamilton hunted down Max Verstappen to win the Sao Paulo Grand Prix for Mercedes on Sunday and slash his Red Bull rival's Formula One lead to 14 points in one of the greatest drives of his career.
'The most important thing, I think, is really about finishing races and analysing and making sure you get as many race points as you can, of course'
The Mercedes driver, who fought back from last to second after being sent spinning at the third corner by Ferrari's Finn, had spoken immediately after the race of the Italian team's 'interesting tactics'.
Germany's Nico Rosberg put Mercedes on pole position for Sunday's Japanese Formula One Grand Prix with championship-leading teammate Lewis Hamilton joining him on the front row.
The pole was the 91st of Lewis Hamilton's career and seventh at Silverstone.
Valtteri Bottas won the battle but Lewis Hamilton won the war, securing his sixth Formula One world championship on Sunday, despite finishing second to his Mercedes team mate at the US Grand Prix.
Charles Leclerc put Ferrari on pole position for their home Italian Formula One Grand Prix on Saturday in a qualifying session that ended in farce and with drivers under investigation.
Formula One leader Nico Rosberg put Mercedes on pole position for his home German Grand Prix on Saturday after a brake failure dumped title rival and team mate Lewis Hamilton out of qualifying.
Kimi Raikkonen believes he still has the speed that Ferrari need despite reports that the Formula One team are lining up a replacement for 2016 in fellow-Finn Valtteri Bottas.
Red Bull closed the gap to champions Mercedes in the constructors' standings to one point.
Charles Leclerc seized pole position for the Belgian Formula One Grand Prix on Saturday ahead of team mate Sebastian Vettel who completed a front row lockout for Ferrari.
Lewis Hamilton put no limits on what he could achieve after roaring past retired Ferrari great Michael Schumacher on Sunday as the Formula One driver with most wins in the history of the sport.
The Finn's lap of one minute 17.221 seconds around Barcelona's Circuit de Catalunya was the second fastest of the eight days of winter testing and slower only than team mate Sebastian Vettel's best on Thursday.
A glaring error by Ferrari denied Charles Leclerc the chance to shine at home, with the 21-year-old failing to make it through the first phase and qualifying only 16th after going fastest in final practice.
The Ferrari driver's best time of one minute 16.231 seconds was close to the 2018 Spanish Grand Prix pole time by Lewis Hamilton for Mercedes.
Lewis Hamilton won the Monaco Grand Prix for Mercedes on Sunday, nursing his car's worn tyres to the finish in a nail-biting victory worthy of the team's late great Niki Lauda.
Max Verstappen lapped with a best time of one minute 27.422 seconds.
Formula One leader Max Verstappen passed Mercedes rival Lewis Hamilton on the penultimate lap to win a tense French Grand Prix for Red Bull on Sunday and canter 12 points clear at the top.
While Valtteri Bottas claimed a dominant win for Mercedes and his team mate Lewis Hamilton held off Red Bull's Max Verstappen for second, Ferrari's drivers were left scrambling for minor points in a sobering start for the Scuderia.
Lewis Hamilton managed to make the most of the adverse conditions to take pole position for Sunday's race.
Six times world champion Lewis Hamilton can expect a quicker car when the Formula One season finally starts in Austria next month, with Mercedes promising plenty of updates. The W11 car unveiled in February has yet to race, with the season delayed since March by the COVID-19 pandemic, and team technical director James Allison said months' worth of improvements are in the pipeline.
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