The Dutchman needs to finish only sixth in Saturday’s sprint race to clinch the title and he made light work of Friday’s sole practice at the Lusail International Circuit.
Verstappen finished three tenths clear of Ferrari’s Carlos Sainz, with Charles Leclerc third in the other scarlet car.
Fernando Alonso took fourth spot for Aston Martin, one place ahead of Verstappen’s Red Bull team-mate Sergio Perez.
George Russell and Lewis Hamilton finished only eighth and 13th for Mercedes.
Verstappen has dominated this season – winning 13 of the 16 races staged – and he will claim his third straight title if he scores three points in the 19-lap sprint race.
First, Verstappen must qualify for Sunday’s main event and, on the evidence of the early running, he appears favourite to take pole position.
The Dutch driver soared to the top of the time sheets of the one-hour running in the final minutes with a healthy third-of-a-second advantage to the rest of the field.
Russell was almost a second back in the lead Mercedes, with Hamilton 1.2 sec behind Verstappen.
Qualifying takes place at 8pm local time (6pm BST).
FP1 Times at Qatar:
1 Max VERSTAPPEN Red Bull Racing 1:27.428
2 Carlos SAINZ Ferrari +0.334
3 Charles LECLERC Ferrari +0.481
4 Fernando ALONSO Aston Martin +0.491
5 Sergio PEREZ Red Bull Racing +0.588
6 Yuki TSUNODA AlphaTauri +0.599
7 Nico HULKENBERG Haas F1 Team +0.743
8 George RUSSELL Mercedes +0.908
9 Oscar PIASTRI McLaren +0.952
10 Lando NORRIS McLaren +1.013
11 Logan SARGEANT Williams +1.122
12 Alexander ALBON Williams +1.162
13 Lewis HAMILTON Mercedes +1.251
14 Lance STROLL Aston Martin +1.262
15 Esteban OCON Alpine +1.304
16 Pierre GASLY Alpine +1.393
17 Valtteri BOTTAS Alfa Romeo +1.613
18 Guanyu ZHOU Alfa Romeo +1.678
19 Liam LAWSON AlphaTauri +1.810
20 Kevin MAGNUSSEN Haas F1 Team +2.074
