Norris Tops Piastri in Sao Paulo Practice
The British driver has outperformed his teammate at each of the last five grands prix.
The McLaren driver edged out fellow driver and title rival the Australian for the quickest lap in the final moments of practice at the Sao Paulo Grand Prix.
The British racer, who grabbed the title advantage from his teammate by just one point after his victory in Mexico City two weeks ago, outpaced the Melbourne-born driver by 0.023 seconds.
Until that point, Oscar Piastri had been the leading McLaren during the running before the sprint shootout due at 18:30 GMT.
Max Verstappen, the only other driver in the championship fight, trailing with a 36-point deficit behind Norris, ended up in P17 as his Red Bull team followed a unique setup.
Verstappen's team-mate Yuki Tsunoda was the sole competitor to go off, if briefly, when he lost control at corner four soon after starting.
Tsunoda spun out over the curbs on exit before spinning across the run-off area, and was blessed to escape with just a minor contact of the fence.
The Ferrari of the seven-time champion also had a spin, at the conclusion of the practice, rotating twice through the high-speed corner before the final bend on to the start-finish straight.
The seven-time champion ended the session in P19, just behind team-mate Charles Leclerc.
Norris and Piastri were significantly quicker of the remaining drivers, with the German's Sauber third fastest, 0.619 seconds behind the Australian's time.
The Aston Martin of the Spanish driver was in fourth, with the Sauber of Gabriel Bortoleto in front of the Mercedes of Russell and the Alpine of Gasly and the Williams of Carlos Sainz.