Englishman Russell, who crashed in practice on Friday, swept around the Marina Bay circuit in one minute 29.158 seconds, 0.182 ahead of Dutchman Verstappen with McLaren's championship leader Oscar Piastri third fastest.
Kimi Antonelli will start in the other Mercedes on the second row of the grid alongside Piastri, whose teammate Lando Norris was fifth fastest and will line up in row three with Ferrari's Lewis Hamilton.