Lando Norris Tops Oscar Piastri in Brazilian Practice
The British driver has outscored his teammate at each of the previous five race weekends.
Lando Norris edged out team-mate and championship contender Oscar Piastri for the quickest lap in the dying seconds of practice at the Sao Paulo Grand Prix.
Norris, who seized the championship lead from Piastri by one point after his victory in Mexico City recently, outpaced the Melbourne-born driver by 0.023 seconds.
Until that point, Piastri had been the leading McLaren during the running before sprint qualifying scheduled for 6:30 PM GMT.
The Red Bull star, the sole remaining contender in realistic title contention, lying 36 points behind Norris, finished in 17th position as his team opted for a different programme.
His teammate Yuki Tsunoda was the only driver to have an incident, if briefly, when he spun at corner four during the early running.
The Japanese lost control over the exit kerbs before rotating through the gravel trap, and was lucky to escape with just a slight brush of the wall.
The Ferrari of the seven-time champion also spun, at the final moments of the session, spinning around through the quick descending Mergulho turn before the final corner on to the main straight.
The seven-time champion finished practice in 19th place, one place behind team-mate Charles Leclerc.
The McLaren drivers were well clear of the other competitors, with the German's Sauber in third, over half a second slower than Piastri's pace.
The Aston Martin of the Spanish driver was fourth quickest, with Sauber's Gabriel Bortoleto ahead of the Mercedes of George Russell and the Alpine of Pierre Gasly and Williams' Carlos Sainz.
