Norris Leads Piastri in Brazilian Practice
The British driver has outscored Oscar Piastri at all of the last five grands prix.
The McLaren driver edged out team-mate and title rival Oscar Piastri for the top spot in the closing stages of the practice session at the Brazilian Grand Prix.
Norris, who took the points lead from Piastri by one point after his victory in the Mexican Grand Prix a fortnight back, beat the Melbourne-born driver by a tiny margin of 0.023secs.
Until that point, Piastri had been the quickest of the McLaren pair throughout the hour before sprint qualifying set to begin at 6:30 PM GMT.
Max Verstappen, the other racer in realistic title contention, trailing 36 points behind Norris, was classified in P17 as his Red Bull team followed a different programme.
His teammate Yuki Tsunoda was the sole competitor to crash, though minor, when he lost control at corner four soon after starting.
Tsunoda spun out over the track edges before spinning across the run-off area, and was blessed to avoid just a light touch of the fence.
The Ferrari of the seven-time champion also lost it, at the very end of the practice, spinning around through the fast downhill Mergulho corner before the final bend on to the pit straight.
The veteran wrapped up in 19th place, trailing teammate the Monegasque driver.
The McLaren drivers were significantly quicker of the remaining drivers, with the German's car in third, over half a second slower than the Australian's time.
Aston Martin's Fernando Alonso was fourth fastest, with Sauber's Gabriel Bortoleto ahead of Mercedes' Russell and Alpine's Gasly and the Williams of Sainz.
