The McLaren driver muscled his car to top spot by a slender 0.031s over Max Verstappen to record his fourth pole position in five races and sixth of the season.
It was helped by the misfortune of George Russell, who crashed out of the session as the chequered flag waved.
With the penultimate corner covered by double waved yellow flags no driver was able to complete their final flying lap.
Norris was therefore confirmed in top spot courtesy of his initial Q3 effort.
“It was the best of probably my career, I think,” he said of the lap that earned him pole.
“It was just a very nice lap.
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“I kind of set the bar too high because on my second lap, I was like, ‘guys, I don’t think I’m going to improve much here’.
“I got everything out of the car.”
Pole position follows third in the Sprint earlier in the day.
Having started fourth a good launch saw Norris rise to second as the field exited the first corner.
However, he then slipped behind Carlos Sainz as they started the final lap after pinching a brake into the same uphill left-hander.
After the Sprint, Norris complained of high degradation across the front axle of his McLaren.
“We changed a good amount from the Sprint race into quali today now and definitely took a step forward,” he admitted.
“I was still struggling a lot, so I just knew I had to risk a little bit more and give it that little extra, and it just came together perfectly.
“But it was definitely not a lap I could have repeated. So I’m very happy because I really wasn’t expecting to be here today.”
A new floor for Red Bull Racing has energised the operation this weekend with Verstappen winning the Sprint from pole.
It was his first F1 success since the Spanish Grand Prix in June.
The Dutchman was favourite to repeat his Sprint Qualifying effort for Sunday’s main race only to be thwarted by Russell’s crash.
Armed with a tweaked McLaren and knowledge of where his title rival’s strength were, Norris put particular focus on two key areas.
“The high speed is a little bit where we struggle a touch compared to the Red Bulls, especially,” Norris noted.
“Max has been extremely quick in the first sector and the high speed, so trying to limit that a little bit more was a good start.
“And then just the braking.
“The final sector, from [Turns] 12 to 16, as soon as one part goes wrong, it can all fall away quite quickly.
“[I] just hooked everything up, probably the first time all weekend and probably the last.
“But it just came together perfectly.
“It was a very, very good lap. I’d probably say quite confidently the best of my career.”
Norris heads into the United States Grand Prix trailing Verstappen by 54 points following his victory in the Sprint.
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