Lando Norris has beaten his teammate at each of the previous five grands prix.
Lando Norris narrowly beat team-mate and title rival the Australian for the quickest lap in the final moments of practice at the Sao Paulo Grand Prix.
Norris, who grabbed the championship lead from his teammate by just one point after winning in the Mexican Grand Prix two weeks ago, beat the Melbourne-born driver by a tiny margin of 0.023secs.
Earlier in the session, Oscar Piastri had been the quickest of the McLaren pair throughout the hour before sprint qualifying due at 6:30 PM GMT.
The Red Bull star, the only other driver in the championship fight, sitting with a 36-point deficit behind Norris, was classified in P17 as his team opted for a alternative strategy.
His teammate Yuki Tsunoda was the sole competitor to have an incident, albeit lightly, when he rotated at Turn Four soon after starting.
The Japanese spun out over the exit kerbs before spinning across the run-off area, and was blessed to get away with just a slight brush of the barrier.
The Ferrari of the seven-time champion also spun, at the final moments of the session, turning around through the fast downhill corner leading to the final bend on to the main straight.
The seven-time champion finished practice in 19th, one place behind team-mate Charles Leclerc.
The McLaren pair were well clear of the remaining drivers, with the German's Sauber third fastest, 0.619 seconds slower than Piastri's best.
Aston Martin's Fernando Alonso was in fourth, with the Sauber of Bortoleto fifth from Mercedes' Russell and the Alpine of Gasly and Williams' Carlos Sainz.
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