Norris Tops Piastri in Sao Paulo Practice Session
The British driver has outscored Oscar Piastri at each of the previous five race weekends.
Lando Norris just pipped team-mate and championship contender Oscar Piastri for the quickest lap in the closing stages of the practice session at the Brazilian Grand Prix.
The British racer, who grabbed the championship lead from Piastri by a single point after taking the win in the Mexican Grand Prix recently, outpaced the Australian by 0.023 seconds.
Earlier in the session, Piastri had been the fastest McLaren driver during the running before the sprint shootout set to begin at 18:30 GMT.
Max Verstappen, the other racer in the championship fight, sitting 36 points behind behind Norris, ended up in 17th position as his team opted for a unique setup.
His teammate Yuki Tsunoda was the only driver to crash, albeit lightly, when he rotated at Turn Four during the early running.
Tsunoda spun out over the curbs on exit before spinning across the escape zone, and was lucky to avoid just a slight brush of the fence.
Ferrari's Lewis Hamilton also had a spin, at the conclusion of the practice, rotating twice through the fast downhill corner leading to the last turn on to the start-finish straight.
The veteran wrapped up in 19th place, just behind teammate Charles Leclerc.
The McLaren drivers were significantly quicker of the remaining drivers, with the German's Sauber P3, over half a second behind Piastri's pace.
The Aston Martin of Fernando Alonso was fourth quickest, with Sauber's Bortoleto fifth from Mercedes' Russell and the Alpine of Pierre Gasly and the Williams of Carlos Sainz.