The Mercedes driver, 4th in the drivers' world championship, will start for the second time in his career at the head of an F1 GP, after Hungary this summer.
He overtook the Ferrari of Carlos Sainz, 2nd.
The Spaniard is, however, under the penalty of five places on the grid due to the change of his internal combustion engine, beyond the authorized quota, and will therefore not start on the front row.
It is the other Mercedes, that of Lewis Hamilton, 3rd in the sprint, which could recover second place on the grid.
But the seven-time world champion is in the sights of the stewards for an offense on the starting grid.
For the moment, no decision has been communicated.
After Friday's rainy qualifying, it was on a dry track that the drivers competed in this last sprint race of the season on Saturday.
Poleman Kevin Magnussen, who had taken the first pole position of his career the day before at the wheel of his Haas thanks to an interruption in qualifying and the rain, finished 8th.
Author of a good start, the 30-year-old Dane did not resist Verstappen for long, who took the lead of the race before being dislodged by Russell, then Sainz and Hamilton.
Fourth at the finish, the Dutchman, already assured of the title of world drivers' champion this season, seemed to suffer in the second part of the race, failing to hold his rank.
His Mexican team-mate Sergio Pérez finished 5th, just ahead of his rival for second place in the drivers' championship, Monegasque Charles Leclerc (Ferrari).
The penultimate race of the season, the Brazilian GP is also the last of the three races where the sprint format, inaugurated last season, was in order (after the Emilia-Romagna and Austrian Grands Prix).
With the sprint race on Saturday, the classic qualifications (time trial) are therefore brought forward from Saturday to Friday.
Their result defines the starting order of the sprint, which itself defines the starting grid of the GP on Sunday.
The top eight finishers in the sprint race receive additional World Championship points.
© 2022 AFP