Norris Leads Oscar Piastri in Brazilian Practice
The British driver has outscored his teammate at all of the last five grands prix.
The McLaren driver narrowly beat fellow driver and title rival the Australian for the top spot in the closing stages of practice at the Sao Paulo Grand Prix.
The British racer, who took the championship lead from his teammate by just one point after taking the win in the Mexican Grand Prix a fortnight back, beat the Australian by a tiny margin of 0.023secs.
Earlier in the session, Oscar Piastri had been the quickest of the McLaren pair during the running before the sprint shootout due at 18:30 GMT.
Max Verstappen, the sole remaining contender in the points battle, sitting with a 36-point deficit Norris, was classified in 17th position as his team followed a unique setup.
His teammate Yuki Tsunoda was the sole competitor to go off, albeit lightly, when he rotated at Turn Four early in the session.
Tsunoda lost control over the track edges before spinning across the run-off area, and was blessed to escape with just a minor contact of the fence.
Ferrari's the seven-time champion also had a spin, at the very end of the session, rotating twice through the high-speed Mergulho corner approaching the last turn on to the pit straight.
The veteran finished practice in 19th, trailing teammate the Monegasque driver.
Norris and Piastri were significantly quicker of the other competitors, with Nico Hulkenberg's Sauber P3, 0.619secs slower than Piastri's pace.
The Aston Martin of the Spanish driver was fourth fastest, with the Sauber of Gabriel Bortoleto ahead of Mercedes' Russell and the Alpine of Pierre Gasly and the Williams of Carlos Sainz.
