Norris Edges Out Oscar Piastri in Brazilian Practice
The British driver has outperformed Oscar Piastri at each of the previous five grands prix.
The McLaren driver just pipped fellow driver and title rival the Australian for the top spot in the final moments of the practice session at the Sao Paulo Grand Prix.
The British racer, who took the title advantage from his teammate by a single point after winning in Mexico City a fortnight back, topped the Melbourne-born driver by a mere 0.023s.
Earlier in the session, Piastri had been the fastest McLaren driver for most of the session before the sprint shootout scheduled for 6:30 PM GMT.
The Red Bull star, the sole remaining contender in the points battle, lying with a 36-point deficit behind Norris, ended up in 17th place as his team opted for a different programme.
His teammate Yuki Tsunoda was the only driver to go off, though minor, when he rotated at Turn Four early in the session.
Tsunoda spun out over the exit kerbs before rotating through the run-off area, and was blessed to escape with just a light touch of the fence.
The Ferrari of Lewis Hamilton also spun, at the very end of the session, rotating twice through the fast downhill Mergulho corner leading to the last turn on to the main straight.
The veteran ended the session in P19, one place behind teammate the Monegasque driver.
Norris and Piastri were well clear of the rest of the field, with Nico Hulkenberg's Sauber third fastest, over half a second slower than the Australian's time.
Aston Martin's Fernando Alonso was in fourth, with the Sauber of Bortoleto fifth from Mercedes' Russell and the Alpine of Pierre Gasly and the Williams of Sainz.
