Norris Leads Oscar Piastri in Sao Paulo Practice Session
The British driver has beaten his teammate at each of the last five race weekends.
Lando Norris narrowly beat team-mate and championship contender the Australian for the top spot in the closing stages of the practice session at the Sao Paulo Grand Prix.
Norris, who seized the title advantage from Piastri by one point after winning in the Mexican Grand Prix a fortnight back, outpaced the Melbourne-born driver by 0.023 seconds.
Until that point, Oscar Piastri had been the fastest McLaren driver throughout the hour before the sprint shootout due at 6:30 PM GMT.
Max Verstappen, the only other driver in realistic title contention, trailing 36 points behind Norris, was classified in P17 as his team ran a alternative strategy.
His teammate Yuki Tsunoda was the sole competitor to have an incident, albeit lightly, when he rotated at the fourth corner during the early running.
The Japanese slid over the track edges before sliding over the escape zone, and was blessed to get away with just a light touch of the wall.
The Ferrari of Lewis Hamilton also spun, at the final moments of the session, turning around through the fast downhill Mergulho corner approaching the last turn on to the main straight.
The seven-time champion finished practice in 19th, just behind team-mate the Monegasque driver.
The McLaren drivers were significantly quicker of the rest of the field, with Nico Hulkenberg's car third fastest, 0.619 seconds slower than the Australian's time.
Aston Martin's Fernando Alonso was fourth quickest, with the Sauber of Gabriel Bortoleto ahead of the Mercedes of Russell and Alpine's Gasly and the Williams of Carlos Sainz.
