Norris beat Red Bull’s Max Verstappen, the only other driver still vaguely in the title fight, by 0.323 seconds.
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Williams’ Carlos Sainz was third, ahead of Mercedes’ George Russell and Piastri.
Ferrari’s Lewis Hamilton, whose teammate Charles Leclerc was ninth, was 20th, the seven-time champion knocked out in the first session and complaining he couldn’t get his tires working.
Norris, who leads Piastri by 24 points with three races remaining, took his third consecutive pole position and continues to look like a world champion in waiting.
Dangerous conditions “like driving on ice”
Conditions were treacherous, the session starting after heavy rain on a track wet enough for the extreme rain tyres, which almost all drivers used during the first two sessions.
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Norris wasn’t especially fast on the extreme wet tyres, but once he put on the intermediate tires in the final session he was consistently the fastest driver on track.
Verstappen, normally so strong in wet conditions, was not on par with the Brit, but his second place on the grid makes him a serious threat for the lead into the first corner given his generally aggressive start to the race.
Norris survived a wobble on his final lap when he hit the curb at the Turns 14-15-16 chicane, but was still fast enough for pole as others behind him were affected by a yellow flag.
Among them was Piastri, who had to go back on his last lap.
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“That was stressful, stressful as hell,” Norris said. “I didn’t know anyone else would get a lap after me. The first two sectors were good. As soon as you hit the curb a little bit wrong, it’s tricky, breaking one way and then the other, but good enough for pole.”
“No one had driven here in the wet before. After Q1, every corner you felt like you could crash in every corner. One lap at a time. It was a tough lap.”
Piastri told Sky Sports: “There were more things we couldn’t use. We have a good car under us that seems to be working well in all conditions, so we can have a strong race tomorrow and hopefully make up some places.”
Verstappen said: “It’s already slippery in the dry, but in the wet it’s not fun. It felt more like driving on ice.”
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“I felt like we were a little more competitive on the extreme tire. We weren’t competitive enough to fight for pole, but second place is still good.”
“I’m excited for tomorrow, I hope the inside (of the grid) is good in terms of grip, but we’ll see.”
Sainz’s run to third was a great performance in a car that was not expected to be fast in the wet. He was investigated for rejoining the track unsafely in the first session, but the stewards took no action.
Behind Piastri, the Racing Bulls of Liam Lawson and Isack Hadjar were sixth and eighth, separated by Aston Martin’s Fernando Alonso.
Alpine’s Leclerc and Pierre Gasly were ninth and tenth.
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Piastri had Aston Martin’s decision to switch Lance Stroll to intermediate tires for a final run in Q2 to thank for his move into the top 10.
Stroll had been fast until then, but was unable to change tires in time before the end of the session to improve his previous time.
Hamilton struggled during the first session and qualified last with outright pace for the first time in his career.
“It was very slippery and the first set of tires didn’t work for us and for some reason I had trouble generating heat in the tires,” he said.
“It’s a shame because the guys have done a great job and the car felt amazing in FP3 and I really felt like we had a good pace, but then the rain came. To be honest, there’s not much to say.”
Lewis Hamilton was almost four seconds slower than Mercedes’ George Russell in the first part of qualifying (Reuters)
top 10
1. Lando Norris (McLaren)
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2. Max Verstappen (Red Bull)
3. Carlos Sainz (Williams)
4. George Russell (Mercedes)
5. Oscar Piastri (McLaren)
6. Liam Lawson (Racing Bulls)
7. Fernando Alonso (Aston Martin)
8. Isack Hadjar (Racing Bulls)
9. Charles Leclerc (Ferrari)
10. Pierre Gasly (alpine)
