Pole for Verstappen, with good Mercedes on p2 and p3.
It will be an interesting race, Mercedes can only win strategy here since it will be very very hard to overtake (if they can follow Max)
They have all the time they need in the start because there is a huge big straight before they arrive at the first turn so they can play a team game here and both Mercedes cars to attack Verstappen.If Max gets away in the first corner that is most likely game over but let's not forget also Perez which will be extra motivated here and even he has an equal chance to come out first in the first corner because of that big straight.
On strategy I doubt Mercedes can make a better strategy than Redbull unless they are willing to try a different approach,as we have seen in the qualifying there were nothing different to try,all the cars were using the red tires.Even for today race most likely everyone will go with a 2 pit stop strategy.
I do agree that Max would be in the biggest danger during the first straight, considering what George did to Sainz last week, and what he has done quite frequently before, Max needs to be careful about something similar, and if he can get away from both of them at the first turn and come out at the first place, then he will definitely not going to be doing anything harder after that and just take the race.
Even in that situation it's hard if both Mercedes drivers are chasing him, it would cause him to lose a lot of tire, and he would have to pit quicker as well to keep up at the top spot. It will be a fun race to watch for sure, Red Bull vs Mercedes again.