Norris Leads Oscar Piastri in Brazilian Practice Session
The British driver has outperformed his teammate at each of the last five grands prix.
The McLaren driver just pipped team-mate and title rival Oscar Piastri for the fastest time in the final moments of practice at the Brazilian Grand Prix.
The British racer, who seized the championship lead from his teammate by one point after taking the win in Mexico City two weeks ago, topped the Australian by a mere 0.023s.
Before then, Oscar Piastri had been the fastest McLaren driver throughout the hour before sprint qualifying set to begin at the evening session.
Max Verstappen, the only other driver in the championship fight, lying with a 36-point deficit behind Norris, finished in 17th place as his team followed a different programme.
His teammate the Japanese driver was the sole competitor to have an incident, though minor, when he lost control at the fourth corner soon after starting.
The Japanese slid over the curbs on exit before spinning across the gravel trap, and was fortunate to avoid just a light touch of the barrier.
The Ferrari of the seven-time champion also spun, at the final moments of the practice, spinning around through the fast downhill Mergulho turn leading to the last turn on to the start-finish straight.
The seven-time champion ended the session in P19, trailing team-mate the Monegasque driver.
The McLaren drivers were significantly quicker of the rest of the field, with Nico Hulkenberg's car P3, 0.619 seconds slower than Piastri's pace.
Aston Martin's the Spanish driver was in fourth, with Sauber's Gabriel Bortoleto in front of the Mercedes of Russell and the Alpine of Pierre Gasly and the Williams of Carlos Sainz.
