Norris Edges Out Piastri in Sao Paulo Practice Session
Lando Norris has outperformed his teammate at each of the previous five race weekends.
Lando Norris narrowly beat fellow driver and title rival Oscar Piastri for the top spot in the final moments of the practice session at the Brazilian Grand Prix.
The British racer, who seized the title advantage from Piastri by just one point after his victory in the Mexican Grand Prix recently, outpaced the Australian by a tiny margin of 0.023secs.
Until that point, Piastri had been the quickest of the McLaren pair for most of the session before the sprint shootout set to begin at 18:30 GMT.
Max Verstappen, the only other driver in the points battle, sitting with a 36-point deficit behind Norris, finished in 17th position as his team followed a alternative strategy.
His teammate Yuki Tsunoda was the only driver to crash, though minor, when he spun at Turn Four soon after starting.
The Japanese lost control over the track edges before sliding over the escape zone, and was blessed to avoid just a slight brush of the fence.
The Ferrari of Lewis Hamilton also spun, at the very end of the session, rotating twice through the quick descending corner approaching the last turn on to the main straight.
The seven-time champion finished practice in P19, trailing 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 the Australian's time.
Aston Martin's Fernando Alonso was in fourth, with Sauber's Gabriel Bortoleto fifth from Mercedes' George Russell and the Alpine of Pierre Gasly and the Williams of Sainz.
