Norris Edges Out Piastri in Sao Paulo Practice Session
The British driver has outperformed Oscar Piastri at all of the last five race weekends.
The McLaren driver edged out team-mate and championship contender the Australian for the fastest time in the closing stages of the practice session at the Sao Paulo Grand Prix.
Norris, who took the title advantage from his teammate by one point after taking the win in Mexico City recently, outpaced the Australian by a tiny margin of 0.023secs.
Earlier in the session, Oscar Piastri had been the quickest of the McLaren pair for most of the session before the sprint shootout set to begin at 6:30 PM GMT.
Max Verstappen, the only other driver in the points battle, lying with a 36-point deficit behind Norris, was classified in P17 as his Red Bull team ran a alternative strategy.
His teammate Yuki Tsunoda was the sole competitor to go off, though minor, when he lost control at corner four during the early running.
The Japanese spun out over the curbs on exit before sliding over the run-off area, and was blessed to get away with just a minor contact of the barrier.
Ferrari's the seven-time champion also had a spin, at the final moments of the practice, turning around through the fast downhill Mergulho corner approaching the last turn on to the main straight.
The veteran ended the session in P19, trailing team-mate Charles Leclerc.
Norris and Piastri were significantly quicker of the rest of the field, with Nico Hulkenberg's Sauber third fastest, 0.619secs behind Piastri's best.
Aston Martin's the Spanish driver was fourth quickest, with the Sauber of Gabriel Bortoleto in front of Mercedes' Russell and the Alpine of Pierre Gasly and Williams' Carlos Sainz.
