Norris Edges Out Piastri in Sao Paulo Practice
The British driver has beaten his teammate at all of the previous five grands prix.
The McLaren driver edged out fellow driver and championship contender Oscar Piastri for the quickest lap in the dying seconds of practice at the Brazilian Grand Prix.
The British racer, who took the championship lead from his teammate by one point after his victory in Mexico City a fortnight back, outpaced the Melbourne-born driver by a mere 0.023s.
Until that point, Piastri had been the fastest McLaren driver for most of the session before the sprint shootout set to begin at 6:30 PM GMT.
Max Verstappen, the sole remaining contender in realistic title contention, lying 36 points Norris, ended up in 17th place as his Red Bull team opted for a unique setup.
Verstappen's team-mate Yuki Tsunoda was the only driver to go off, if briefly, when he rotated at corner four early in the session.
Tsunoda spun out over the exit kerbs before spinning across the run-off area, and was blessed to get away with just a minor contact of the barrier.
The Ferrari of Lewis Hamilton also had a spin, at the final moments of the practice, turning around through the fast downhill Mergulho corner approaching the last turn on to the pit straight.
The seven-time champion wrapped up in P19, one place behind teammate Charles Leclerc.
Norris and Piastri were far ahead of the remaining drivers, with Nico Hulkenberg's Sauber P3, 0.619 seconds slower than Piastri's pace.
Aston Martin's Fernando Alonso was fourth quickest, with the Sauber of Bortoleto fifth from the Mercedes of Russell and the Alpine of Pierre Gasly and the Williams of Sainz.
