Norris Tops Piastri in Sao Paulo Practice
The British driver has beaten Oscar Piastri at all of the last five race weekends.
The McLaren driver narrowly beat team-mate and championship contender the Australian for the quickest lap in the dying seconds of the practice session at the Sao Paulo Grand Prix.
The British racer, who grabbed the title advantage from his teammate by a single point after taking the win in the Mexican Grand Prix recently, outpaced the Melbourne-born driver by 0.023 seconds.
Earlier in the session, Piastri had been the fastest McLaren driver throughout the hour before sprint qualifying set to begin at the evening session.
Max Verstappen, the other racer in the championship fight, sitting 36 points behind behind Norris, ended up in 17th position as his team followed a different programme.
His teammate Yuki Tsunoda was the only driver to crash, if briefly, when he lost control at Turn Four early in the session.
Tsunoda lost control over the curbs on exit before sliding over the run-off area, and was blessed to avoid just a minor contact of the barrier.
The Ferrari of Lewis Hamilton also spun, at the conclusion of the session, spinning around through the fast downhill Mergulho turn before the final corner on to the main straight.
The seven-time champion finished practice in P19, trailing teammate Charles Leclerc.
The McLaren drivers were well clear of the other competitors, with the German's Sauber P3, over half a second behind the Australian's time.
The Aston Martin of Fernando Alonso was fourth fastest, with Sauber's Bortoleto ahead of the Mercedes of Russell and Alpine's Pierre Gasly and the Williams of Sainz.
