Norris Leads Oscar Piastri in Brazilian Practice Session
The British driver has outscored Oscar Piastri at all of the previous five grands prix.
Lando Norris narrowly beat fellow driver and title rival Oscar Piastri for the quickest lap in the dying seconds of practice at the Sao Paulo Grand Prix.
Norris, who took the championship lead from his teammate by one point after taking the win in Mexico City a fortnight back, topped the Melbourne-born driver by 0.023 seconds.
Earlier in the session, Piastri had been the fastest McLaren driver throughout the hour before the sprint shootout set to begin at 18:30 GMT.
Max Verstappen, the other racer in the points battle, trailing with a 36-point deficit behind Norris, finished in 17th position as his Red Bull team ran a unique setup.
Verstappen's team-mate Yuki Tsunoda was the sole competitor to crash, albeit lightly, when he spun at corner four soon after starting.
The Japanese slid over the track edges before rotating through the escape zone, and was fortunate to escape with just a light touch of the barrier.
The Ferrari of Lewis Hamilton also lost it, at the very end of the session, rotating twice through the fast downhill Mergulho turn leading to the final corner on to the pit straight.
The seven-time champion ended the session in 19th, just behind team-mate Charles Leclerc.
The McLaren drivers were far ahead of the other competitors, with the German's car in third, 0.619 seconds off Piastri's best.
Aston Martin's Fernando Alonso was in fourth, with Sauber's Gabriel Bortoleto in front of the Mercedes of George Russell and the Alpine of Gasly and the Williams of Carlos Sainz.
