Lando Norris Tops Piastri in Sao Paulo Practice Session
Lando Norris has outperformed his teammate at all of the previous five grands prix.
Lando Norris edged out team-mate and championship contender the Australian for the quickest lap in the final moments of practice at the Brazilian Grand Prix.
The British racer, who took the championship lead from his teammate by just one point after taking the win in Mexico City two weeks ago, topped the Melbourne-born driver by a mere 0.023s.
Until that point, Oscar Piastri had been the fastest McLaren driver for most of the session before sprint qualifying scheduled for 18:30 GMT.
Max Verstappen, the other racer in the points battle, lying 36 points behind behind Norris, finished in 17th place as his Red Bull team ran a different programme.
His teammate Yuki Tsunoda was the only driver to crash, albeit lightly, when he rotated at Turn Four early in the session.
The Japanese slid over the exit kerbs before rotating through the run-off area, and was blessed to escape with just a minor contact of the wall.
The Ferrari of the seven-time champion also lost it, at the very end of the practice, rotating twice through the fast downhill Mergulho turn before the last turn on to the main straight.
The veteran ended the session in 19th place, just behind teammate Charles Leclerc.
The McLaren drivers were far ahead of the other competitors, with Nico Hulkenberg's Sauber in third, 0.619secs off Piastri's best.
Aston Martin's the Spanish driver was fourth quickest, with the Sauber of Bortoleto fifth from Mercedes' Russell and the Alpine of Gasly and Williams' Carlos Sainz.
