Lando Norris Tops Piastri in Sao Paulo Practice Session
The British driver has outperformed his teammate at each of the previous five grands prix.
Lando Norris narrowly beat fellow driver and title rival Oscar Piastri for the quickest lap in the final moments of the practice session at the Brazilian Grand Prix.
Norris, who took the points lead from his teammate by a single point after taking the win in Mexico City two weeks ago, topped the Australian by 0.023 seconds.
Earlier in the session, Oscar Piastri had been the leading McLaren throughout the hour before the sprint shootout scheduled for 18:30 GMT.
Max Verstappen, the other racer in the points battle, lying 36 points behind Norris, ended up in P17 as his team followed a unique setup.
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.
The Japanese slid over the exit kerbs before spinning across the gravel trap, and was fortunate to escape with just a light touch of the fence.
The Ferrari of the seven-time champion also spun, at the final moments of the session, turning around through the quick descending Mergulho corner approaching the final corner on to the pit straight.
The seven-time champion finished practice in P19, just behind teammate the Monegasque driver.
The McLaren pair were significantly quicker of the remaining drivers, with the German's Sauber in third, over half a second slower than Piastri's best.
The Aston Martin of Fernando Alonso was fourth quickest, with the Sauber of Gabriel Bortoleto fifth from Mercedes' Russell and Alpine's Gasly and Williams' Carlos Sainz.
