Norris Tops Piastri in Brazilian Practice
The British driver has outscored Oscar Piastri at each of the last five grands prix.
The McLaren driver just pipped fellow driver and title rival the Australian for the top spot in the final moments of the practice session at the Sao Paulo Grand Prix.
Norris, who seized the title advantage from Piastri by just one point after his victory in Mexico City two weeks ago, topped the Melbourne-born driver by a mere 0.023s.
Until that point, Piastri had been the leading McLaren during the running before the sprint shootout set to begin at the evening session.
Max Verstappen, the sole remaining contender in realistic title contention, sitting 36 points behind Norris, ended up in 17th place as his team opted for a unique setup.
Verstappen's team-mate Yuki Tsunoda was the only driver to go off, albeit lightly, when he lost control at corner four during the early running.
The Japanese slid over the curbs on exit before rotating through the run-off area, and was fortunate to get away with just a light touch of the barrier.
Ferrari's Lewis Hamilton also spun, at the very end of the session, turning around through the quick descending corner leading to the last turn on to the start-finish straight.
Hamilton ended the session in 19th, one place behind team-mate the Monegasque driver.
Norris and Piastri were well clear of the remaining drivers, with the German's Sauber in third, 0.619 seconds behind Piastri's best.
The Aston Martin of the Spanish driver was in fourth, with the Sauber of Bortoleto fifth from Mercedes' Russell and the Alpine of Gasly and the Williams of Sainz.
