The final phase of qualifying was halted, with only Piastri and Haas' Nico Hulkenberg having set times, when Sainz slammed backwards into the barriers at the final corner as he prepared to start his flying lap.
Verstappen, who had started alongside Norris on the front row, was leading by lap three and could then build a buffer and take control.
The German driver joined Mercedes from Williams in 2010 and has won 19 Grands Prix for the team, including five this year. He has helped Mercedes to the manufacturers' title for the last two seasons.
Formula One world champion Lewis Hamilton stormed to his third successive pole position of the season, and third in a row in China, after edging team-mate Nico Rosberg in a front-row lockout for Mercedes on Saturday.
The pole was the Finn's second in a row, after Brazil two weeks ago, and fourth of the campaign. Hamilton had been aiming for his 12th of the year.
Formula One championship leader Max Verstappen lifted himself into a league of his own as he beat title rival Lewis Hamilton to pole position with a blinding lap in qualifying for the French Grand Prix at Circuit Paul Ricard.
Lewis Hamilton believes his Mercedes Formula One team can live up to their advance billing as favourites when the season starts in Australia next week.
Australian Daniel Ricciardo won the Italian Grand Prix in a stunning McLaren one-two with Lando Norris at Monza on Sunday.
Triple world champion Lewis Hamilton produced a moment of Montreal magic on Saturday to put his Mercedes on pole position for the Canadian Grand Prix and equal Ayrton Senna's career haul of 65.
McLaren's Lando Norris dominated the Singapore Grand Prix from start to finish on Sunday to take another chunk out of Max Verstappen's Formula One championship lead.
A teary George Russell celebrated the first Formula One Grand Prix victory of his career in Brazil on Sunday in a one-two finish with Mercedes team mate and seven-times world champion Lewis Hamilton.
Hamilton decided to take matters into his own hands and pass several cars ahead of him, without gaining anything as Verstappen's time stood the test.
World champion Max Verstappen took the first pole position of the Formula One season in Bahrain on Friday.
Argentina's World Cup winning captain Lionel Messi was named the Laureus Sportsman of the Year, while sprint champion Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce bagged the top women's honour.
Summary of sports events and persons who made news on Sunday
Lewis Hamilton won his home British Grand Prix on Sunday and slashed Mercedes team mate Nico Rosberg's Formula One lead to four points after the German retired for the first time this season.
Alonso said he had huge respect for Hamilton and had no problems with him.
Lewis Hamilton seized pole position for the Austrian Grand Prix on Saturday in a damp qualifying session that saw both the Formula One world champion and his Mercedes team mate Nico Rosberg skid off on their final laps.
Finland's Valtteri Bottas kept champions Mercedes on pole position for the Austrian Grand Prix on Saturday after title-chasing team mate Lewis Hamilton was hit with a five-place grid penalty.
Bottas said he was already looking forward to next season despite the fact there are still two races left on the current calendar.
Lewis Hamilton feels he faces "pretty impossible odds" going into Formula One's Abu Dhabi title-decider while Mercedes team mate and rival Nico Rosberg says he will treat Sunday's race like any other. Both are being disingenuous, of course. Hamilton knows he still has a real chance and Rosberg is well aware just how much is at stake. While Rosberg is the favourite to win the 'Duel in the Desert', needing only to finish on the Yas Marina podium to become Germany's third world champion after Michael Schumacher and Sebastian Vettel, he will still be on tenterhooks.
Mexican team mate Sergio Perez qualified second fastest in a front row lockout for Red Bull, 15 years after the team took their first win at the Shanghai International Circuit with Sebastian Vettel.
The four-time world champion's fifth win of the season for Mercedes left him on 213 points to 189 for Ferrari's Sebastian Vettel, who finished second, and relishing the prospect of a stress-free family holiday.
Lewis Hamilton spent the off-season crisscrossing the globe to party with A-list celebrities but Formula One's reigning champion is adamant there will be no hangover when he returns to work at this week's season-opening Australian Grand Prix.
Mercedes are expected to wrap up the constructors' championship on Sunday with three races to spare, having won 12 of the 15 so far with eight one-two finishes.
For Mercedes to be denied in Brazil, Ferrari will have to score 13 points more than Mercedes -- a feat they have managed only twice in 19 races so far this year.
Red Bull's Mexican Sergio Perez was a distant third, struggling with dehydration after a water bottle failure in the Texas heat.
