Norris Edges Out Piastri in Brazilian Practice Session
The British driver has beaten Oscar Piastri at each of the previous five grands prix.
The McLaren driver just pipped fellow driver and title rival the Australian for the quickest lap in the final moments of practice at the Brazilian Grand Prix.
The British racer, who grabbed the points lead from his teammate by just one point after winning in Mexico City a fortnight back, outpaced the Melbourne-born driver by 0.023 seconds.
Earlier in the session, Piastri had been the fastest McLaren driver throughout the hour before the sprint shootout set to begin at 6:30 PM GMT.
Max Verstappen, the other racer in realistic title contention, sitting with a 36-point deficit Norris, ended up in P17 as his Red Bull team followed a different programme.
Verstappen's team-mate Yuki Tsunoda was the only driver to go off, if briefly, when he lost control at the fourth corner early in the session.
Tsunoda spun out over the curbs on exit before sliding over the gravel trap, and was lucky to avoid just a slight brush of the barrier.
Ferrari's the seven-time champion also had a spin, at the conclusion of the practice, turning around through the fast downhill Mergulho turn before the final bend on to the main straight.
The seven-time champion ended the session in 19th place, one place behind team-mate Charles Leclerc.
The McLaren drivers were significantly quicker of the other competitors, with the German's car third fastest, 0.619 seconds slower than the Australian's time.
The Aston Martin of Fernando Alonso was fourth fastest, with the Sauber of Gabriel Bortoleto fifth from Mercedes' Russell and the Alpine of Pierre Gasly and Williams' Sainz.