Ferrari trails McLaren by 21 points for the teams title and needs a perfect result to have a realistic chance of closing the gap. Carlos Sainz qualified a close third, but teammate Charles Leclerc bombed out of qualifying 14th after having his fastest lap deleted for driving off the track, and a subsequent engine penalty will drop him to a catastrophic 19th on the grid.
He will be joined by Lewis Hamilton in the lower reaches of the grid, with the Briton set to launch from 16th on his final weekend as a Mercedes driver after running over a loose bollard on his final lap of Q1.
The battle for the final pole position of the year was unpredictable, with McLaren expected to have an easy upper hand but Max Verstappen suddenly rocketing into contention in Q2.
The Dutchman was fastest again after the first laps of the pole shootout, albeit he was the only one of the frontrunners to have used a fresh set of soft tyres for his initial attempt.
Verstappen couldn’t keep up with the McLaren drivers when all had the benefit of new tyres, with Norris finding almost 0.4 seconds to move easily into top spot, beating teammate Piastri by 0.209 seconds.
It was Norris’s eighth pole of the season the equal best tally along with Verstappen.
“A perfect day for us,” he said. “We’ve been very quick all weekend, and we’re pleased with the one-two.
“My lap in the end was strong. That’s just how we wanted to end today.”
But while the Briton said victory would be his Sunday target, the team would race with one eye on Ferrari behind.
“We’ve got to beat Ferrari, that’s the aim,” he said. “But we want to do it in style and we want to win - I want to win.
“We know what have to do. We’re keeping our heads down. We’re staying focused.”
Piastri was pleased to lock out the front row for McLaren despite failing to find as much time on new tyres as his teammate.
“A great result for the team, happy with that,” he said. “Last lap, I wish I could’ve had it again, but that’s okay, P2 is still a good spot.
“Obviously for the team first and second is the dream, so let’s keep it going for tomorrow.”
Sainz will line up third, 0.229 seconds short of pole, on his final weekend as a Ferrari driver.
Despite the improbability of Ferrari overturning its title deficit, the Spaniard said the team wouldn’t give up until the chequered flag on Sunday.
“There’s still a race to do tomorrow, and we will give it everything to see if we can win the race and give ourselves the best chance,” he said. “I’m going to give it everything.”
Nico Hülkenberg was an excellent fourth fastest in qualifying for Haas, giving the American-owned team a chance to overturn Alpine’s five-point advantage in the fight for sixth in the standings.
Max Verstappen was an underwhelming fifth after failing to improve with his second lap, only just beating Alpine’s Pierre Gasly.
George Russell was a mystified sixth and 0.537 seconds off pole, having struggled for pace all weekend.
Fernando Alonso was eighth ahead of Valtteri Bottas, who made just his second Q3 appearance of the season, and Sergio Pérez in 10th.
RB teammates Yuki Tsunoda and Liam Lawson will qualified 11th and 12th ahead of Lance Stroll and the despondent Leclerc, who will drop to 19th with an engine penalty.
Keving Magnussen will move up from 15th to 14th on the grid to fill the space ahead of Zhou Guanyu and the down-and-out Hamilton.
Hamilton dropped into the knockout zone in the final minutes of the session sending him scrambling to set a final lap. He was on track to improve just enough to pinch a spot in Q2 after the first two sectors, but he then lucklessly ran over a stray bollard in the final sector that cost him almost 0.3 seconds on his personal best.
Ironically the bollard had been freed from its mounting by Magnussen, who had driven off track in an attempt not to hinder the fast-approaching Hamilton.
Jack Doohan was slowest in his first ever grand prix qualifying session but will start 17th ahead of Thai driver Alex Albon in 18th, who had qualified 16th but was penalised for changing his gearbox.
Leclerc will start 19th with his engine penalty ahead of Franco Colapinto in last place, the Argentine having been 19th fastest but also having to serve a gearbox penalty.