Lando Norris Tops Oscar Piastri in Sao Paulo Practice
Lando Norris has outperformed Oscar Piastri at each of the previous five race weekends.
The McLaren driver just pipped fellow driver and championship contender Oscar Piastri for the quickest lap in the dying seconds of the practice session at the Brazilian Grand Prix.
Norris, who grabbed the points lead from his teammate by just one point after winning in the Mexican Grand Prix two weeks ago, topped the Australian by a mere 0.023s.
Earlier in the session, Oscar Piastri had been the quickest of the McLaren pair for most of the session before sprint qualifying scheduled for 18:30 GMT.
Max Verstappen, the only other driver in the championship fight, trailing with a 36-point deficit Norris, ended up in 17th position as his Red Bull team followed a alternative strategy.
Verstappen's team-mate Yuki Tsunoda was the sole competitor to go off, though minor, when he rotated at corner four soon after starting.
The Japanese slid over the curbs on exit before spinning across the escape zone, and was blessed to escape with just a light touch of the fence.
The Ferrari of Lewis Hamilton also had a spin, at the final moments of the practice, turning around through the high-speed corner approaching the final bend on to the start-finish straight.
The seven-time champion ended the session in P19, just behind teammate the Monegasque driver.
The McLaren drivers were significantly quicker of the other competitors, with Nico Hulkenberg's Sauber third fastest, 0.619 seconds off Piastri's pace.
The Aston Martin of the Spanish driver was fourth fastest, with Sauber's Gabriel Bortoleto in front of Mercedes' Russell and Alpine's Gasly and Williams' Carlos Sainz.