Norris Edges Out Oscar Piastri in Brazilian Practice Session
The British driver has outscored Oscar Piastri at each of the previous five grands prix.
Lando Norris just pipped team-mate and title rival the Australian for the fastest time in the closing stages of practice at the Sao Paulo Grand Prix.
Norris, who grabbed the championship lead from Piastri by a single point after his victory in Mexico City a fortnight back, outpaced the Melbourne-born driver by a mere 0.023s.
Earlier in the session, Oscar Piastri had been the quickest of the McLaren pair for most of the session before sprint qualifying due at 18:30 GMT.
Max Verstappen, the other racer in the championship fight, lying with a 36-point deficit Norris, ended up in 17th place as his Red Bull team followed a alternative strategy.
His teammate Yuki Tsunoda was the sole competitor to have an incident, if briefly, when he rotated at Turn Four during the early running.
The Japanese spun out over the track edges before sliding over the run-off area, and was fortunate to get away with just a minor contact of the fence.
The Ferrari of the seven-time champion also had a spin, at the very end of the practice, turning around through the quick descending corner approaching the final corner on to the pit straight.
The seven-time champion finished practice in 19th, trailing teammate the Monegasque driver.
The McLaren drivers were significantly quicker of the other competitors, with Nico Hulkenberg's car P3, 0.619 seconds off Piastri's pace.
Aston Martin's Fernando Alonso was fourth quickest, with Sauber's Gabriel Bortoleto in front of Mercedes' Russell and Alpine's Gasly and Williams' Sainz.
