Norris Edges Out Oscar Piastri in Sao Paulo Practice
Lando Norris has outscored Oscar Piastri at each of the previous five race weekends.
Lando Norris narrowly beat team-mate and championship contender the Australian for the top spot in the final moments of the practice session at the Brazilian Grand Prix.
Norris, who grabbed the championship lead from his teammate by just one point after taking the win in the Mexican Grand Prix a fortnight back, topped the Melbourne-born driver by a tiny margin of 0.023secs.
Before then, Piastri had been the quickest of the McLaren pair for most of the session before sprint qualifying set to begin at 6:30 PM GMT.
Max Verstappen, the sole remaining contender in the points battle, lying with a 36-point deficit Norris, finished in 17th position as his Red Bull team followed a alternative strategy.
Verstappen's team-mate the Japanese driver was the only driver to have an incident, albeit lightly, when he spun at Turn Four soon after starting.
The Japanese lost control over the track edges before sliding over the run-off area, and was fortunate to escape with just a light touch of the wall.
The Ferrari of the seven-time champion also lost it, at the very end of the session, spinning around through the quick descending corner leading to the last turn on to the main straight.
The veteran wrapped up in 19th, trailing team-mate the Monegasque driver.
Norris and Piastri were far ahead of the remaining drivers, with Nico Hulkenberg's Sauber in third, 0.619 seconds behind the Australian's time.
The Aston Martin of Fernando Alonso was in fourth, with Sauber's Bortoleto fifth from Mercedes' George Russell and Alpine's Gasly and Williams' Carlos Sainz.
