Norris Tops Oscar Piastri in Sao Paulo Practice
The British driver has beaten Oscar Piastri at each of the previous five grands prix.
The McLaren driver edged out fellow driver and championship contender Oscar Piastri for the top spot in the dying seconds of practice at the Brazilian Grand Prix.
Norris, who grabbed the championship lead from his teammate by a single point after his victory in Mexico City recently, beat the Australian by a mere 0.023s.
Earlier in the session, Piastri had been the quickest of the McLaren pair throughout the hour before the sprint shootout due at 18:30 GMT.
Max Verstappen, the sole remaining contender in realistic title contention, lying 36 points behind Norris, finished in 17th position as his Red Bull team ran a different programme.
His teammate Yuki Tsunoda was the only driver to crash, though minor, when he spun at corner four soon after starting.
The Japanese spun out over the exit kerbs before spinning across the run-off area, and was lucky to escape with just a slight brush of the wall.
The Ferrari of Lewis Hamilton also spun, at the very end of the session, rotating twice through the high-speed Mergulho turn leading to the final bend on to the main straight.
The seven-time champion finished practice in 19th, trailing teammate Charles Leclerc.
The McLaren pair were well clear of the rest of the field, with Nico Hulkenberg's Sauber in third, 0.619 seconds off Piastri's best.
The Aston Martin of Fernando Alonso was fourth quickest, with Sauber's Gabriel Bortoleto fifth from the Mercedes of George Russell and the Alpine of Gasly and the Williams of Carlos Sainz.