The three-time champion took a record-equalling pole position in Imola, with the McLarens of Piastri and Norris less than a tenth of a second behind.
The Aussie pipped the Brit to second place by just 0.017 seconds, but has now been handed a three-grid place penalty for impeding Kevin Magnussen.
Piastri inadvertently blocked the Haas driver at Turns 2 and 3 during the first session, nearly causing him to crash and contributing to the Dane’s lowly qualifying result of 18th.
Magnussen was left furious over the incident, saying on the team radio: ‘I can’t believe this, man. It’s unreal, un-f****** real.’
The stewards ruled in his favour, stating: ‘We accept the explanation of Piastri that because of the layout of the circuit at that location, he could not see Magnussen until it was too late, at which time he tried to accelerate away in order to get clear of Magnussen as quickly as possible.
‘Magnussen acknowledged that it was difficult for drivers to see cars behind in many portions of the track, including here.
‘However, the Stewards reviewed the team radio and Piastri’s team did not warn him of the much faster approaching car until Magnussen was too close for Piastri to do anything to safely avoid impeding.
‘Traffic management for slower cars is an extremely important part of the team/driver combination, particularly in Q1. In this instance the Stewards determine that the lack of sufficient warning caused an “unnecessary impeding”.’
As a result, Piastri drops to fifth on the grid, with Norris and the Ferraris of Charles Leclerc and Carlos Sainz moving up a spot.
This will boost Norris’ chances of taking back-to-back victories after he won his first Formula 1 race a fortnight ago in Miami.
‘P3 is not a bad job at all. Within a tenth both of us for P1. Tiny margins but for us as a team we have had a great weekend,’ Norris said after qualifying.
‘Oscar did a great job and so did Max. Exciting. I can’t wait for tomorrow.
‘We are getting closer. To be ahead of Ferrari is also a nice result for us. It’s going to be close, it’s going to be a good race tomorrow.
‘Hopefully it’s an exciting one. Tough, especially when the lap times are so tight. A lot of it is down to Lap One, strategy and the pit stops. It’s going to be a tough race.’
The Emilia Romagna Grand Prix gets underway at 2pm UK time on Sunday.
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