Norris Edges Out Oscar Piastri in Brazilian Practice Session
The British driver has outscored his teammate at all of the last five grands prix.
The McLaren driver narrowly beat team-mate and title rival Oscar Piastri for the top spot in the final moments of practice at the Brazilian Grand Prix.
Norris, who took the points lead from Piastri by just one point after taking the win in the Mexican Grand Prix two weeks ago, outpaced the Melbourne-born driver by a mere 0.023s.
Until that point, Oscar Piastri had been the fastest McLaren driver during the running before sprint qualifying scheduled for 18:30 GMT.
Max Verstappen, the sole remaining contender in the points battle, trailing 36 points behind behind Norris, was classified in P17 as his Red Bull team followed a unique setup.
Verstappen's team-mate Yuki Tsunoda was the sole competitor to go off, though minor, when he spun at the fourth corner during the early running.
Tsunoda spun out over the exit kerbs before spinning across the escape zone, and was fortunate to avoid just a minor contact of the wall.
Ferrari's the seven-time champion also had a spin, at the final moments of the session, spinning around through the fast downhill Mergulho corner before the last turn on to the pit straight.
The seven-time champion ended the session in 19th place, just behind teammate Charles Leclerc.
The McLaren drivers were well clear of the remaining drivers, with Nico Hulkenberg's car P3, over half a second off Piastri's pace.
The Aston Martin of the Spanish driver was fourth fastest, with Sauber's Gabriel Bortoleto in front of Mercedes' George Russell and the Alpine of Gasly and the Williams of Sainz.
