Norris Edges Out Oscar Piastri in Brazilian Practice Session
The British driver has outscored his teammate at all of the last five grands prix.
The McLaren driver narrowly beat team-mate and championship contender the Australian for the fastest time in the closing stages of the practice session at the Brazilian Grand Prix.
The British racer, who seized the title advantage from Piastri by just one point after his victory in Mexico City two weeks ago, topped the Australian by a tiny margin of 0.023secs.
Earlier in the session, Piastri had been the fastest McLaren driver for most of the session before sprint qualifying scheduled for the evening session.
Max Verstappen, the only other driver in realistic title contention, trailing with a 36-point deficit Norris, ended up in 17th position as his team opted for a alternative strategy.
His teammate Yuki Tsunoda was the only driver to go off, albeit lightly, when he rotated at Turn Four during the early running.
Tsunoda lost control over the curbs on exit before sliding over the gravel trap, and was blessed to avoid just a slight brush of the fence.
Ferrari's Lewis Hamilton also lost it, at the very end of the session, turning around through the high-speed Mergulho corner approaching the final corner on to the pit straight.
The veteran ended the session in 19th, just behind team-mate the Monegasque driver.
The McLaren drivers were significantly quicker of the rest of the field, with the German's car P3, 0.619 seconds slower than the Australian's time.
The Aston Martin of the Spanish driver was in fourth, with Sauber's Bortoleto ahead of Mercedes' George Russell and Alpine's Pierre Gasly and Williams' Carlos Sainz.