Norris Tops Oscar Piastri in Brazilian Practice
The British driver has outscored Oscar Piastri at all of the previous five grands prix.
The McLaren driver just pipped team-mate and championship contender Oscar Piastri for the quickest lap in the final moments of practice at the Sao Paulo Grand Prix.
Norris, who took the points lead from his teammate by a single point after winning in the Mexican Grand Prix a fortnight back, outpaced the Melbourne-born driver by a mere 0.023s.
Until that point, Piastri had been the quickest of the McLaren pair throughout the hour before sprint qualifying set to begin at the evening session.
The Red Bull star, the only other driver in the points battle, trailing with a 36-point deficit behind Norris, was classified in P17 as his Red Bull team followed a unique setup.
His teammate Yuki Tsunoda was the only driver to crash, albeit lightly, when he lost control at the fourth corner soon after starting.
The Japanese slid over the track edges before sliding over the run-off area, and was lucky 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 session, rotating twice through the quick descending Mergulho turn before the final corner on to the start-finish straight.
The veteran finished practice in 19th, just behind team-mate the Monegasque driver.
The McLaren drivers were far ahead of the rest of the field, with the German's Sauber P3, 0.619 seconds off the Australian's time.
Aston Martin's Fernando Alonso was fourth quickest, with the Sauber of Gabriel Bortoleto in front of the Mercedes of George Russell and the Alpine of Pierre Gasly and Williams' Sainz.
