Norris Edges Out Oscar Piastri in Sao Paulo Practice
The British driver has beaten Oscar Piastri at each of the past five race weekends.
The McLaren driver narrowly beat team-mate and championship contender Oscar Piastri for the top spot in the dying seconds of the practice session at the Brazilian Grand Prix.
The British racer, who grabbed the title advantage from Piastri by a single point after his victory in the Mexican Grand Prix a fortnight back, beat the Australian by a mere 0.023s.
Until that point, Oscar Piastri had been the quickest of the McLaren pair for most of the session before the sprint shootout due at the evening session.
Max Verstappen, the only other driver in the points battle, lying with a 36-point deficit behind Norris, finished in 17th position as his Red Bull team opted for a alternative strategy.
Verstappen's team-mate Yuki Tsunoda was the sole competitor to go off, albeit lightly, when he spun at Turn Four during the early running.
Tsunoda spun out over the track edges before spinning across the escape zone, and was blessed to escape with just a slight brush of the fence.
Ferrari's the seven-time champion also spun, at the very end of the practice, spinning around through the quick descending Mergulho turn approaching the final bend on to the pit straight.
The veteran wrapped up in 19th place, just behind team-mate the Monegasque driver.
The McLaren pair were significantly quicker of the remaining drivers, with the German's Sauber in third, 0.619 seconds off the Australian's time.
Aston Martin's the Spanish driver was fourth quickest, with Sauber's Bortoleto ahead of Mercedes' Russell and Alpine's Gasly and the Williams of Carlos Sainz.
