Perez recorded a 1:26.841 on the first few flying runs in Q3 to take advantage early on the timing board when Red Bull teammate Max Verstappen went too far at Turn 5 and abandoned his first run and retreated into the pit lane.
Leclerc, meanwhile, pounded the wall on the exit of Turn 16 and then suffered a lock-up on the following turn that was only enough for seventh after the first few heats.
So the two had plenty to do to move up the order and started their final runs to try and snag Perez’s bid for a second pole position in 2023.
While Leclerc started his lap in a wild manner, he squandered it on the exit of Turn 6 and lost the rear to spin into the wall. This immediately spawned a series of double wave yellows in the opening sector but the session was abandoned with a red flag with a minute and 36 seconds left on the clock and was not restarted.
This cemented Perez’s pole position and denied Verstappen, who led in both Q1 and Q2, a chance to fight his way back for pole – much to the Dutchman’s frustration.
Fernando Alonso secured his first front row start of the season alongside Perez thanks to his own strong showing after the first few heats – and hailed the Aston Martin’s balance as ‘perfect’ after the session.
The Spaniard will start ahead of his compatriot Carlos Sainz on Sunday’s grid as the Ferrari driver managed to set a stable lap in the early heats. He is joined on the second row by Kevin Magnussen, the Dane beating his first attempt while Haas continued to look impressive throughout qualifying.
Fernando Alonso, Aston Martin AMR23
Photo by: Andy Hone / Motorsport Images
Pierre Gasly was fifth ahead of George Russell, who narrowly broke into Q3 while Leclerc was seventh fastest before his crash.
Esteban Ocon ensured two Alpines made the top 10, with Verstappen and Bottas failing to set representative times in the latter part of qualifying.
Lewis Hamilton was the top elimination from Q2 and was only able to secure 13th place in the session as the Mercedes drivers spent most of the second part of qualifying in the drop zone.
Russell managed to break into the top 10 but Hamilton couldn’t pull the same pace from the W14, missing Q3 by two tenths – the seven-time champion felt the team was too late in their quest for a climb into the top 10 last part of the qualification.
Alex Albon was knocked out of qualifying by Russell, who was just half a tenth up by the end of the session, to deny Williams another chance at a Q3 place.
The Anglo-Thai will start 11th ahead of Nico Hulkenberg – who was also unable to progress after sitting in the top 10 for most of the session. Hamilton starts Sunday’s race ahead of Zhou Guanyu, who was unable to join Alfa Romeo teammate Valtteri Bottas in Q3, and AlphaTauri’s Nyck de Vries.
Track conditions in Q1 improved quickly in the latter stages of the session, prompting a mad rush towards the finish line as the gaps among the midfield runners were particularly tight.
Carlos Sainz, Ferrari SF-23
Photo by: Andy Hone / Motorsport Images
McLaren and Mercedes duos were in the last five with a minute and a half to go, with both sides expecting progress.
Both Mercedes drivers managed to set competitive lap times to progress, but Oscar Piastri was unable to top the 15th fastest time and stamped his card for an early dip in the session.
Lando Norris, meanwhile, managed to finish 11th, but the improving cars around him pushed him back into the drop zone, causing him to retire on stage one.
Yuki Tsunoda qualified 17th behind the Brit, while Lance Stroll also failed to lure his Aston Martin out of the bottom five and clinched an 18th place on the grid for Sunday’s race. Piastri and Logan Sargeant completed the last row.