Lando Norris Tops Piastri in Sao Paulo Practice Session
Lando Norris has outscored his teammate at each of the last five grands prix.
The McLaren driver narrowly beat fellow driver and title rival the Australian for the fastest time in the dying seconds of the practice session at the Sao Paulo Grand Prix.
Norris, who seized the points lead from his teammate by just one point after his victory in Mexico City recently, topped the Australian by 0.023 seconds.
Earlier in the session, Oscar Piastri had been the quickest of the McLaren pair throughout the hour before the sprint shootout set to begin at 6:30 PM GMT.
Max Verstappen, the other racer in the championship fight, trailing 36 points Norris, finished in P17 as his team followed a alternative strategy.
His teammate the Japanese driver was the sole competitor to go off, albeit lightly, when he lost control at Turn Four soon after starting.
The Japanese lost control over the exit kerbs before rotating through the escape zone, and was blessed to get away with just a minor contact of the wall.
Ferrari's Lewis Hamilton also spun, at the very end of the practice, rotating twice through the high-speed Mergulho corner approaching the final bend on to the pit straight.
The seven-time champion ended the session in 19th, trailing teammate Charles Leclerc.
The McLaren drivers were far ahead of the remaining drivers, with the German's Sauber third fastest, 0.619 seconds behind the Australian's time.
The Aston Martin of Fernando Alonso was fourth quickest, with Sauber's Gabriel Bortoleto ahead of the Mercedes of Russell and Alpine's Gasly and the Williams of Carlos Sainz.
