The pole, Vettel's 47th, ended a run of 18 in a row for world champions Mercedes who had Valtteri Bottas and Lewis Hamilton right behind the two red cars in third and fourth places.
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.
The Briton's latest victory, in a Tuscan Grand Prix that was twice red-flagged and re-started, left him one shy of the Ferrari great -- a record once held up as a milestone to withstand the test of time.
Ferrari's Charles Leclerc qualified third with team mate Sebastian Vettel a distant seventh on a distinctly off day for the German.
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.
Formula One is changing its scoring system to award a point to the driver who sets the fastest race lap, starting from this weekend's season-opening Australian Grand Prix in Melbourne.
The race has been won from pole eight times out of 11 editions.
Mercedes driver Lewis Hamilton has insisted that his team must consult him on who would replace recently-retired world champion Nico Rosberg next season before also warning them against signing big names like Fernando Alonso.
Hamilton has won the last three races, out of four so far in this COVID-19 affected season, and will start as favourite again.
Force India's Nico Hulkenberg was handed a one-place grid penalty for the German Grand Prix following a breach of tyre rules in Saturday's qualifying session.
Mick Schumacher made his first track appearance as a fully signed-up Formula One driver on Friday
Six-times world champion Lewis Hamilton and his team will take centre stage, hoping for another year of dominance after winning both titles for the past six years and ending up fastest in winter testing. Ferrari can be trusted to provide plenty of headlines with four-times champion Sebastian Vettel fighting to reassert himself at the team after being outshone by quick newcomer Leclerc, a double winner in 2019.
'It is going to be a lifelong thing for me.'
The pole was the second of the Dutch 22-year-old's Formula One career and the first in Brazil for engine partners Honda since the late triple champion Ayrton Senna in 1991 with McLaren.
Lewis Hamilton is planning to get plenty of rest over the next few days
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.
Lewis Hamilton tightened his grip on securing a fifth Formula One world title by coming from nowhere to claim a stunning pole position for the Singapore Grand Prix in his Mercedes on Saturday.
Nico Rosberg beat title favourite Lewis Hamilton to pole position for the decisive Abu Dhabi Formula One Grand Prix on Saturday as the dominant Mercedes team mates locked out the front row in qualifying.
Vettel, now 17 points behind the Briton after starting eight ahead, led from pole position until rain caused chaos in the closing laps, with the German skidding into the barriers in front of his home fans.
Lewis Hamilton collected his champion's trophy at a glittering gala in Paris after ending the year in touching distance of Michael Schumacher's records for wins and titles.
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.
Ferrari's Sebastian Vettel, the Briton's closest rival, finished only sixth after an early collision with Red Bull's Max Verstappen left the German fighting back from 19th place.
After pipping Ferrari's Sebastian Vettel with a lap of one minute 23.599 seconds in the first practice, the Briton shaved almost a second in FP2, his quickest lap clocked at 1:22.60.
It was Hamilton's third victory of the season and also his third in a row at the sun-bathed but windswept Circuit Gilles Villeneuve.
Lewis Hamilton led every lap from pole position to chequered flag, banging in a fastest lap for good measure to emphasise his supremacy
The pole was a record-extending 88th of Hamilton's career and fifth of the season.
Ferrari's Sebastian Vettel, winner of 52 races, has gone more than a year since he tasted victory at last year's Belgian race.
Three-time world champion Lewis Hamilton, who incurred a penalty that ensured he finished second behind Ferrari's Sebastian Vettel at the Bahrain Grand Prix, has issued an apology to his Mercedes team.
The Renault Formula One team will be renamed Alpine F1 from 2021, competing in French colours to showcase the carmaker's sportscar brand, new company CEO Luca de Meo announced on Sunday.
The Briton had won his own fifth championship in Mexico two weeks previously but the broader celebrations were kept in check until Interlagos.
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.
Lewis Hamilton won the Mexican Grand Prix for Mercedes after a first-lap scare on Sunday but the Briton will have to wait another week to wrap up his sixth Formula One world championship. Hamilton's 10th win of the season, and 83rd of his career, was also a 100th for Mercedes as a constructor.
Ferrari title rival Sebastian Vettel qualified only ninth.
'I really do believe this weekend we will be in a better position than we were last year'
Aryna Sabalenka moved one step closer to defending her Wuhan Open crown after dispatching world number one Ash Barty in straight sets with a 7-5 6-4 victory in the semi-final on Friday
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.
Hamilton said he would still be "incredibly proud" to pull level with "an icon like Michael" and seven was way beyond his wildest dreams, but numbers and titles maybe meant more to those on the outside.
Formula One leader Lewis Hamilton made the most of the changeable conditions to seize pole position for the Belgian Grand Prix ahead of Ferrari title rival Sebastian Vettel on Saturday.
Team by team analysis of Sunday's US Formula One Grand Prix at the Circuit of the Americas.
Red Bull's Max Verstappen celebrated his first Formula One pole position at the Hungarian Grand Prix on Saturday.
