Norris headed Max Verstappen’s upgraded Red Bull by 0.243 seconds, with Ferrari’s Carlos Sainz third, 0.397secs off the pace.
Red Bull’s Sergio Perez was fourth fastest, ahead of Mercedes’ George Russell, whose team-mate Lewis Hamilton was seventh, behind Haas driver Kevin Magnussen.
Leclerc lost control at Turn Four, the fastest corner on the circuit, a snap of oversteer taking him onto the exit kerb, from where he spun into the barrier on the other side of the track.
The Ferrari went into the barriers rear first before the front-left corner also suffered an impact. The car looked relatively undamaged considering the speed of the accident at a 150mph corner.
Sauber’s Zhou Guanyu very nearly had a similar accident shortly after the session restarted following a delay of 16 minutes.
He also spun at Turn Four and as his car skidded down the track towards the hairpin of Turn Five it narrowly avoided collecting Perez’s Red Bull.
Behind Hamilton, RB’s Daniel Ricciardo, Williams’ Alex Albon and Fernando Alonso, in an Aston Martin which also features a major upgrade, focusing on the floor, rounded out the top 10.