Norris Edges Out Piastri in Sao Paulo Practice
The British driver has outscored Oscar Piastri at all of the last five grands prix.
The McLaren driver narrowly beat fellow driver and title rival Oscar Piastri for the quickest lap in the final moments of practice at the Brazilian Grand Prix.
The British racer, who took the points lead from Piastri by a single point after winning in the Mexican Grand Prix two weeks ago, beat the Australian by a tiny margin of 0.023secs.
Earlier in the session, Oscar Piastri had been the quickest of the McLaren pair during the running before the sprint shootout set to begin at the evening session.
Max Verstappen, the sole remaining contender in the championship fight, lying with a 36-point deficit behind Norris, ended up in P17 as his Red Bull team ran a alternative strategy.
Verstappen's team-mate the Japanese driver was the sole competitor to crash, albeit lightly, when he rotated at the fourth corner soon after starting.
The Japanese lost control over the track edges before spinning across the escape zone, and was lucky to get away with just a slight brush of the wall.
The Ferrari of Lewis Hamilton also had a spin, at the very end of the session, spinning around through the quick descending Mergulho corner leading to the final bend on to the pit straight.
The veteran finished practice in P19, trailing team-mate the Monegasque driver.
The McLaren drivers were significantly quicker of the remaining drivers, with the German's car third fastest, over half a second off Piastri's best.
The Aston Martin of the Spanish driver was in fourth, with the Sauber of Gabriel Bortoleto ahead of the Mercedes of Russell and Alpine's Gasly and the Williams of Sainz.
