Norris Leads Piastri in Brazilian Practice
The British driver has outperformed his teammate at all of the previous five grands prix.
The McLaren driver just pipped team-mate and title rival the Australian for the fastest time in the final moments of practice at the Brazilian Grand Prix.
The British racer, who grabbed the championship lead from his teammate by just one point after his victory in Mexico City recently, beat the Melbourne-born driver by 0.023 seconds.
Until that point, Piastri had been the leading McLaren during the running before sprint qualifying set to begin at 18:30 GMT.
Max Verstappen, the sole remaining contender in the points battle, trailing 36 points Norris, ended up in 17th position as his team ran a alternative strategy.
His teammate Yuki Tsunoda was the only driver to crash, albeit lightly, when he rotated at Turn Four soon after starting.
Tsunoda lost control over the exit kerbs before spinning across the run-off area, and was lucky to escape with just a slight brush of the fence.
Ferrari's Lewis Hamilton also spun, at the final moments of the practice, rotating twice through the quick descending corner approaching the final corner on to the main straight.
The seven-time champion finished practice in 19th, just behind teammate Charles Leclerc.
The McLaren pair were far ahead of the remaining drivers, with the German's car P3, over half a second behind Piastri's pace.
Aston Martin's the Spanish driver was fourth fastest, with the Sauber of Bortoleto ahead of Mercedes' George Russell and Alpine's Gasly and the Williams of Sainz.
