Norris Leads Piastri in Brazilian Practice
The British driver has outscored Oscar Piastri at each of the previous five race weekends.
Lando Norris just pipped fellow driver and title rival the Australian for the quickest lap in the final moments of practice at the Brazilian Grand Prix.
The British racer, who grabbed the title advantage from his teammate by a single point after winning in Mexico City a fortnight back, beat the Australian by a mere 0.023s.
Until that point, Piastri had been the quickest of the McLaren pair for most of the session before the sprint shootout scheduled for 6:30 PM GMT.
The Red Bull star, the sole remaining contender in the championship fight, lying 36 points behind Norris, finished in 17th position as his team opted for a different programme.
His teammate Yuki Tsunoda was the only driver to have an incident, though minor, when he rotated at corner four early in the session.
Tsunoda spun out over the exit kerbs before spinning across the run-off area, and was blessed to avoid just a light touch of the fence.
Ferrari's the seven-time champion also had a spin, at the final moments of the practice, rotating twice through the quick descending Mergulho corner before the final corner on to the pit straight.
The seven-time champion finished practice in 19th place, trailing teammate the Monegasque driver.
The McLaren drivers were far ahead of the other competitors, with Nico Hulkenberg's Sauber third fastest, over half a second off Piastri's pace.
Aston Martin's Fernando Alonso was fourth quickest, with the Sauber of Bortoleto fifth from the Mercedes of Russell and the Alpine of Pierre Gasly and the Williams of Carlos Sainz.
