Norris Leads Piastri in Sao Paulo Practice Session
The British driver has beaten his teammate at all of the past five grands prix.
The McLaren driver edged out fellow driver and title rival Oscar Piastri for the fastest time in the final moments of the practice session at the Sao Paulo Grand Prix.
The British racer, who seized the points lead from his teammate by just one point after winning in Mexico City two weeks ago, topped the Melbourne-born driver by 0.023 seconds.
Earlier in the session, Oscar Piastri had been the fastest McLaren driver for most of the session before the sprint shootout scheduled for 6:30 PM GMT.
The Red Bull star, the only other driver in the points battle, lying with a 36-point deficit behind Norris, ended up in 17th position as his team followed a unique setup.
His teammate Yuki Tsunoda was the only driver to crash, if briefly, when he lost control at Turn Four soon after starting.
The Japanese lost control over the exit kerbs before sliding over the escape zone, and was fortunate to avoid just a slight brush of the fence.
Ferrari's Lewis Hamilton also had a spin, at the very end of the practice, rotating twice through the high-speed Mergulho turn leading to the last turn on to the start-finish straight.
The seven-time champion ended the session in 19th place, one place behind team-mate Charles Leclerc.
The McLaren pair were significantly quicker of the remaining drivers, with Nico Hulkenberg's car P3, over half a second slower than Piastri's best.
The Aston Martin of Fernando Alonso was in fourth, with the Sauber of Gabriel Bortoleto ahead of Mercedes' Russell and the Alpine of Pierre Gasly and the Williams of Sainz.
