The grid gives the Australian a good chance to extend his championship lead over Norris, who had a tricky session.

He missed the final chicane on his first lap of the top 10 shootout and had to be reminded not to push too much in the braking zones.

His second attempt was slower than Alonso’s first and Norris failed to improve on his final run, and was bumped further down by Russell, Antonelli and Hamilton.

Norris said: “Just a couple of big mistakes. One, hitting the wall on the last lap in the exit of (Turn) Seven and first lap, I think, last corner. So, yeah, just two mistakes that cost me, I guess.

“We’ve clearly not been as quick as normal. I think that’s just because of the layout of the track. I think the cars have been performing relatively well and I was happy through all of qualifying. Maybe not the car to take pole today, but good enough to be up there and fighting for top three.”

Alonso’s sixth place was Aston Martin’s best grid position of the season and confirms the progress the team have made since introducing an upgrade at the Emilia-Romagna Grand Prix.

“We maximised for sure the potential of the car,” Alonso said. “I feel happier with the car since Imola, since the upgrade.

“At the beginning of the year, it was a challenge to understand what the car needed and what kind of direction in the set-up I needed to go, but since Imola I am more comfortable and I can be more precise on the feedback and make the changes that I know will make the car faster and sometimes you succeed on that.

“Last four races, four Q3 (places). It makes the whole team a little more relaxed.”

Rounding out the top 10 behind Leclerc were Racing Bulls’ Isack Hadjar and Williams’ Alex Albon.

But Hadjar faces an investigation for impeding Williams’ Carlos Sainz at the end of the first session, preventing the Spaniard from progressing.

Red Bull’s Yuki Tsunoda, who qualified 11th, will start at the back because of a 10-place grid penalty for overtaking Piastri’s damaged McLaren after a red flag during final practice.

Stewards rejected Tsunoda’s explanations for his actions, saying Piastri was not going slow enough to excuse the breaking of a safety rule.