Norris Leads Oscar Piastri in Sao Paulo Practice Session
The British driver has outscored his teammate at each of the last five grands prix.
The McLaren driver narrowly beat fellow driver and title rival the Australian for the quickest lap in the closing stages of the practice session at the Brazilian Grand Prix.
Norris, who grabbed the championship lead from Piastri by one point after taking the win in the Mexican Grand Prix recently, beat the Australian by a mere 0.023s.
Until that point, Piastri had been the fastest McLaren driver during the running before sprint qualifying scheduled for 6:30 PM GMT.
The Red Bull star, the sole remaining contender in the points battle, sitting with a 36-point deficit Norris, finished in 17th position as his Red Bull team ran a alternative strategy.
His teammate Yuki Tsunoda was the only driver to crash, albeit lightly, when he spun at corner four soon after starting.
Tsunoda lost control over the curbs on exit before sliding over the gravel trap, and was blessed to get away with just a slight brush of the barrier.
Ferrari's Lewis Hamilton also had a spin, at the very end of the session, spinning around through the high-speed Mergulho turn approaching the final corner on to the start-finish straight.
Hamilton finished practice in P19, trailing teammate Charles Leclerc.
Norris and Piastri were far ahead of the remaining drivers, with Nico Hulkenberg's Sauber third fastest, 0.619 seconds slower than Piastri's pace.
The Aston Martin of the Spanish driver was fourth quickest, with the Sauber of Bortoleto ahead of Mercedes' Russell and the Alpine of Pierre Gasly and Williams' Sainz.
