Initially, Lewis Hamilton seemed poised to claim pole after Norris' flying lap was deleted for exceeding track limits. However, in the dying moments, the deleted lap was reinstated by stewards, giving the McLaren driver the second Sprint pole of his career.
Hamilton salvaged a still-impressive second place, securing an all-British front row for Saturday's Sprint.
Fernando Alonso, who recently inked a long-term deal with Aston Martin, put in a strong showing to claim third, while championship leader Max Verstappen found himself down in fourth after twice going off track in Q3.
Carlos Sainz, once again outperforming his Ferrari teammate Charles Leclerc who finished in P7, rounded out the top five.
The first Sprint of the season at the Chinese GP kicks off on Saturday, April 20, at 11am local time. Find the session start times converted to your local time zone below:
Local time (China): 11am Saturday UK time: 4am Saturday Central European Time (CEST): 5am Saturday United States (EDT): 11pm Friday United States (CDT): 10m Friday United States (PDT): 8pm Friday Australia (Melbourne): 1pm Saturday South Africa: 5am Saturday