Norris Leads Piastri in Brazilian Practice Session
Lando Norris has outperformed his teammate at all of the last five race weekends.
Lando Norris edged out fellow driver and title rival Oscar Piastri for the quickest lap in the final moments of the practice session at the Sao Paulo Grand Prix.
The British racer, who took the championship lead from his teammate by one point after taking the win in Mexico City two weeks ago, outpaced the Melbourne-born driver by 0.023 seconds.
Before then, Piastri had been the quickest of the McLaren pair throughout the hour before the sprint shootout scheduled for 6:30 PM GMT.
Max Verstappen, the only other driver in the points battle, trailing with a 36-point deficit behind Norris, finished in 17th position as his Red Bull team ran a alternative strategy.
His teammate Yuki Tsunoda was the sole competitor to have an incident, though minor, when he lost control at the fourth corner early in the session.
The Japanese slid over the exit kerbs before rotating through the gravel trap, and was blessed to get away with just a slight brush of the barrier.
Ferrari's the seven-time champion also had a spin, at the very end of the session, spinning around through the high-speed Mergulho turn before the last turn on to the main straight.
The veteran ended the session in P19, just behind teammate the Monegasque driver.
The McLaren drivers were well clear of the remaining drivers, with the German's Sauber in third, 0.619secs slower than Piastri's best.
The Aston Martin of Fernando Alonso was fourth fastest, with the Sauber of Bortoleto fifth from the Mercedes of George Russell and Alpine's Gasly and Williams' Sainz.