Lando Norris has outscored his teammate at each of the previous five race weekends.
Lando Norris just pipped team-mate and title rival the Australian for the quickest lap in the closing stages of the practice session at the Brazilian Grand Prix.
The British racer, who took the points lead from Piastri by one point after winning in the Mexican Grand Prix two weeks ago, beat the Melbourne-born driver by a mere 0.023s.
Earlier in the session, Oscar Piastri had been the leading McLaren for most of the session before sprint qualifying scheduled for 18:30 GMT.
Max Verstappen, the only other driver in realistic title contention, lying 36 points behind behind Norris, was classified in P17 as his team followed a unique setup.
His teammate Yuki Tsunoda was the only driver to crash, albeit lightly, when he lost control at Turn Four during the early running.
Tsunoda lost control over the exit kerbs before spinning across the run-off area, and was fortunate to escape with just a minor contact of the fence.
Ferrari's the seven-time champion also had a spin, at the very end of the practice, spinning around through the high-speed Mergulho turn approaching the final corner on to the start-finish straight.
The veteran wrapped up in 19th, one place behind teammate the Monegasque driver.
Norris and Piastri were far ahead of the rest of the field, with the German's car in third, 0.619 seconds behind the Australian's time.
Aston Martin's Fernando Alonso was fourth quickest, with Sauber's Gabriel Bortoleto ahead of Mercedes' Russell and the Alpine of Pierre Gasly and the Williams of Sainz.
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