Norris Edges Out Oscar Piastri in Brazilian Practice Session
Lando Norris has outscored his teammate at all of the past five race weekends.
The McLaren driver just pipped team-mate and title rival the Australian for the fastest time in the closing stages of the practice session at the Sao Paulo Grand Prix.
The British racer, who took the championship lead from Piastri by just one point after taking the win in the Mexican Grand Prix recently, topped the Melbourne-born driver by a mere 0.023s.
Until that point, Oscar Piastri had been the leading McLaren throughout the hour before the sprint shootout scheduled for the evening session.
Max Verstappen, the sole remaining contender in the points battle, lying 36 points behind behind Norris, was classified in 17th position as his Red Bull team followed a different programme.
Verstappen's team-mate the Japanese driver was the sole competitor to crash, though minor, when he lost control at the fourth corner early in the session.
The Japanese lost control over the curbs on exit before sliding over the run-off area, and was lucky to escape with just a light touch of the wall.
The Ferrari of the seven-time champion also had a spin, at the conclusion of the session, spinning around through the fast downhill Mergulho turn before the final bend on to the start-finish straight.
The seven-time champion wrapped up in 19th place, just behind team-mate the Monegasque driver.
Norris and Piastri were significantly quicker of the other competitors, with the German's Sauber third fastest, over half a second slower than Piastri's pace.
The Aston Martin of Fernando Alonso was fourth quickest, with Sauber's Bortoleto in front of the Mercedes of Russell and Alpine's Gasly and the Williams of Carlos Sainz.
