Norris Edges Out Piastri in Brazilian Practice Session
The British driver has outscored Oscar Piastri at each of the past five grands prix.
The McLaren driver narrowly beat fellow driver and championship contender the Australian for the quickest lap in the closing stages of the practice session at the Sao Paulo Grand Prix.
The British racer, who seized the points lead from his teammate by just one point after winning in the Mexican Grand Prix recently, outpaced the Melbourne-born driver by 0.023 seconds.
Before then, Piastri had been the leading McLaren during the running before the sprint shootout due at 6:30 PM GMT.
Max Verstappen, the sole remaining contender in realistic title contention, sitting 36 points behind Norris, ended up in P17 as his Red Bull team ran a alternative strategy.
Verstappen's team-mate Yuki Tsunoda was the only driver to have an incident, if briefly, when he rotated at corner four during the early running.
The Japanese lost control over the track edges before sliding over the escape zone, and was blessed to get away with just a light touch of the wall.
Ferrari's Lewis Hamilton also had a spin, at the conclusion of the practice, turning around through the high-speed Mergulho turn leading to the final corner on to the main straight.
Hamilton finished practice in 19th, just behind team-mate the Monegasque driver.
Norris and Piastri were well clear of the rest of the field, with the German's car in third, over half a second behind the Australian's time.
Aston Martin's Fernando Alonso was fourth quickest, with the Sauber of Bortoleto in front of Mercedes' Russell and Alpine's Gasly and Williams' Sainz.
