Norris Leads Oscar Piastri in Brazilian Practice
The British driver has outscored Oscar Piastri at all of the previous five grands prix.
The McLaren driver narrowly beat fellow driver and championship contender Oscar Piastri for the fastest time in the final moments of the practice session at the Sao Paulo Grand Prix.
The British racer, who grabbed the points lead from his teammate by just one point after his victory in the Mexican Grand Prix two weeks ago, beat the Australian by a mere 0.023s.
Before then, Oscar Piastri had been the fastest McLaren driver throughout the hour before the sprint shootout scheduled for 18:30 GMT.
Max Verstappen, the other racer in the championship fight, sitting with a 36-point deficit Norris, ended up in 17th place 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 lost control at corner four soon after starting.
Tsunoda slid over the curbs on exit before rotating through the escape zone, and was blessed to escape with just a slight brush of the wall.
Ferrari's Lewis Hamilton also spun, at the very end of the session, spinning around through the high-speed corner leading to the final bend on to the start-finish straight.
The veteran wrapped up in 19th, one place behind teammate the Monegasque driver.
Norris and Piastri were well clear of the remaining drivers, with Nico Hulkenberg's Sauber in third, 0.619secs behind the Australian's time.
The Aston Martin of the Spanish driver was fourth fastest, with the Sauber of Gabriel Bortoleto in front of Mercedes' Russell and the Alpine of Gasly and the Williams of Sainz.
