Norris Edges Out Piastri in Brazilian Practice
The British driver has beaten his teammate at each of the last five race weekends.
Lando Norris edged out team-mate and championship contender Oscar Piastri for the quickest lap in the dying seconds of the practice session at the Sao Paulo Grand Prix.
The British racer, who took the points lead from Piastri by just one point after his victory in Mexico City recently, topped the Australian by a mere 0.023s.
Until that point, Oscar Piastri had been the quickest of the McLaren pair throughout the hour before sprint qualifying scheduled for 18:30 GMT.
Max Verstappen, the other racer in the points battle, sitting 36 points behind behind Norris, finished in 17th position as his Red Bull team opted for a unique setup.
Verstappen's team-mate the Japanese driver was the only driver to have an incident, though minor, when he lost control at corner four during the early running.
The Japanese spun out over the track edges before spinning across the escape zone, and was fortunate to avoid just a light touch of the fence.
Ferrari's the seven-time champion also had a spin, at the conclusion of the session, turning around through the quick descending Mergulho corner before the last turn on to the pit straight.
The veteran ended the session in 19th place, trailing teammate the Monegasque driver.
The McLaren drivers were significantly quicker of the rest of the field, with Nico Hulkenberg's Sauber third fastest, 0.619secs slower than Piastri's pace.
The Aston Martin of Fernando Alonso was in fourth, with the Sauber of Gabriel Bortoleto in front of the Mercedes of George Russell and Alpine's Gasly and Williams' Carlos Sainz.
