Norris Edges Out Oscar Piastri in Brazilian Practice Session
The British driver has outperformed Oscar Piastri at all of the last five race weekends.
The McLaren driver narrowly beat team-mate and championship contender Oscar Piastri for the fastest time in the final moments of practice at the Brazilian Grand Prix.
The British racer, who grabbed the title advantage from Piastri by a single point after taking the win in Mexico City two weeks ago, outpaced the Australian by a mere 0.023s.
Until that point, Piastri had been the fastest McLaren driver during the running before the sprint shootout due at 6:30 PM GMT.
The Red Bull star, the sole remaining contender in the championship fight, sitting with a 36-point deficit behind Norris, was classified in 17th place as his Red Bull team followed a unique setup.
His teammate Yuki Tsunoda was the only driver to have an incident, though minor, when he lost control at Turn Four during the early running.
The Japanese slid over the track edges before spinning across the escape zone, and was lucky to get away with just a light touch of the fence.
Ferrari's the seven-time champion also lost it, at the final moments of the session, rotating twice through the fast downhill Mergulho corner before the final bend on to the start-finish straight.
The seven-time champion wrapped up in 19th place, trailing team-mate the Monegasque driver.
The McLaren pair were significantly quicker of the other competitors, with Nico Hulkenberg's Sauber third fastest, 0.619secs slower than the Australian's time.
Aston Martin's the Spanish driver was fourth fastest, with the Sauber of Gabriel Bortoleto ahead of the Mercedes of George Russell and the Alpine of Pierre Gasly and the Williams of Carlos Sainz.
