Norris Edges Out Piastri in Sao Paulo Practice
The British driver has outperformed his teammate at each of the last five race weekends.
The McLaren driver just pipped team-mate and championship contender the Australian for the fastest time in the closing stages of the practice session at the Brazilian Grand Prix.
Norris, who grabbed the title advantage from Piastri by one point after winning in Mexico City two weeks ago, beat the Melbourne-born driver by a tiny margin of 0.023secs.
Before then, Piastri had been the leading McLaren during the running before sprint qualifying due at 18:30 GMT.
Max Verstappen, the sole remaining contender in the points battle, trailing 36 points Norris, was classified in 17th position as his Red Bull team ran a different programme.
Verstappen's team-mate the Japanese driver was the only driver to go off, though minor, when he lost control at the fourth corner soon after starting.
The Japanese slid over the exit kerbs before sliding over the escape zone, and was lucky to avoid just a slight brush of the fence.
Ferrari's the seven-time champion also had a spin, at the very end of the practice, spinning around through the high-speed Mergulho turn leading to the final corner on to the pit straight.
The veteran ended the session in 19th, one place behind team-mate Charles Leclerc.
Norris and Piastri were well clear of the remaining drivers, with Nico Hulkenberg's Sauber P3, over half a second off the Australian's time.
The Aston Martin of the Spanish driver was fourth quickest, with Sauber's Bortoleto in front of the Mercedes of George Russell and the Alpine of Pierre Gasly and the Williams of Sainz.
