Norris Edges Out Piastri in Brazilian Practice Session
The British driver has outscored Oscar Piastri at each of the previous five race weekends.
The McLaren driver edged out fellow driver and title rival the Australian for the quickest lap in the dying seconds of the practice session at the Brazilian Grand Prix.
The British racer, who took the title advantage from Piastri by a single point after his victory in Mexico City two weeks ago, beat the Melbourne-born driver by a tiny margin of 0.023secs.
Earlier in the session, Piastri had been the leading McLaren during the running before the sprint shootout set to begin at the evening session.
Max Verstappen, the only other driver in the championship fight, lying 36 points Norris, was classified in 17th place as his team opted for a different programme.
His teammate the Japanese driver was the sole competitor to crash, though minor, when he spun at Turn Four during the early running.
The Japanese slid over the track edges before spinning across the gravel trap, and was blessed to avoid just a light touch of the wall.
The Ferrari of Lewis Hamilton also lost it, at the conclusion of the practice, spinning around through the quick descending corner approaching the final bend on to the start-finish straight.
The veteran finished practice in P19, trailing team-mate the Monegasque driver.
The McLaren drivers were far ahead of the other competitors, with the German's Sauber P3, 0.619secs behind Piastri's pace.
Aston Martin's Fernando Alonso was in fourth, with Sauber's Bortoleto in front of the Mercedes of Russell and the Alpine of Pierre Gasly and Williams' Sainz.
