Norris Edges Out Piastri in Sao Paulo Practice
The British driver has beaten Oscar Piastri at all of the previous five race weekends.
The McLaren driver narrowly beat team-mate and title rival the Australian for the top spot in the closing stages of practice at the Sao Paulo Grand Prix.
The British racer, who took the title advantage from Piastri by one point after taking the win in the Mexican Grand Prix recently, topped the Melbourne-born driver by a tiny margin of 0.023secs.
Until that point, Piastri had been the leading McLaren during the running before the sprint shootout scheduled for 18:30 GMT.
Max Verstappen, the only other driver in the points battle, sitting with a 36-point deficit behind Norris, was classified in 17th place as his team opted for a alternative strategy.
His teammate the Japanese driver was the only driver to go off, though minor, when he spun at Turn Four during the early running.
The Japanese lost control over the curbs on exit before spinning across the escape zone, and was fortunate to get away with just a slight brush of the fence.
The Ferrari of Lewis Hamilton also spun, at the final moments of the session, spinning around through the fast downhill corner before the last turn on to the main straight.
The veteran finished practice in P19, trailing team-mate the Monegasque driver.
The McLaren drivers were far ahead of the remaining drivers, with Nico Hulkenberg's car third fastest, 0.619 seconds slower than Piastri's best.
Aston Martin's Fernando Alonso was fourth quickest, with the Sauber of Bortoleto fifth from the Mercedes of Russell and Alpine's Gasly and the Williams of Sainz.
