Norris Tops Oscar Piastri in Brazilian Practice
The British driver has outperformed Oscar Piastri at all of the last five grands prix.
The McLaren driver narrowly beat team-mate and championship contender Oscar Piastri for the quickest lap in the closing stages of practice at the Brazilian Grand Prix.
Norris, who took the points lead from his teammate by one point after taking the win in Mexico City a fortnight back, topped the Melbourne-born driver by a tiny margin of 0.023secs.
Until that point, Oscar Piastri had been the leading McLaren throughout the hour before the sprint shootout scheduled for 18:30 GMT.
Max Verstappen, the only other driver in the championship fight, sitting 36 points behind Norris, ended up in P17 as his Red Bull team opted for a alternative strategy.
Verstappen's team-mate Yuki Tsunoda was the sole competitor to go off, though minor, when he rotated at the fourth corner during the early running.
Tsunoda slid over the curbs on exit before sliding over the gravel trap, and was lucky to escape with just a light touch of the fence.
The Ferrari of the seven-time champion also had a spin, at the conclusion of the practice, spinning around through the fast downhill Mergulho turn before the last turn on to the pit straight.
The veteran ended the session in 19th place, just behind team-mate the Monegasque driver.
The McLaren pair were significantly quicker of the other competitors, with the German's car in third, 0.619secs off Piastri's best.
Aston Martin's the Spanish driver was in fourth, with Sauber's Gabriel Bortoleto ahead of Mercedes' George Russell and Alpine's Gasly and the Williams of Carlos Sainz.
