Lando Norris Edges Out Piastri in Brazilian Practice
The British driver has outscored Oscar Piastri at each of the previous five race weekends.
Lando Norris edged out fellow driver and title rival the Australian for the fastest time in the dying seconds of practice at the Sao Paulo Grand Prix.
Norris, who seized the points lead from his teammate by one point after winning in the Mexican Grand Prix a fortnight back, beat the Australian by a tiny margin of 0.023secs.
Until that point, Oscar Piastri had been the fastest McLaren driver throughout the hour before the sprint shootout scheduled for the evening session.
Max Verstappen, the only other driver in the championship fight, lying with a 36-point deficit behind Norris, ended up in P17 as his Red Bull team followed a alternative strategy.
Verstappen's team-mate the Japanese driver was the only driver to crash, though minor, when he rotated at corner four soon after starting.
The Japanese slid over the track edges before sliding over the escape zone, and was blessed to avoid just a minor contact of the fence.
Ferrari's the seven-time champion also had a spin, at the final moments of the practice, rotating twice through the fast downhill Mergulho turn leading to the final corner on to the start-finish straight.
The veteran wrapped up in 19th place, trailing team-mate Charles Leclerc.
Norris and Piastri were far ahead of the remaining drivers, with Nico Hulkenberg's car in third, 0.619 seconds behind the Australian's time.
Aston Martin's the Spanish driver was in fourth, with Sauber's Gabriel Bortoleto fifth from the Mercedes of Russell and Alpine's Pierre Gasly and the Williams of Sainz.
