Norris Leads Piastri in Sao Paulo Practice
Lando Norris has outperformed his teammate at each of the last five race weekends.
Lando Norris narrowly beat team-mate and championship contender the Australian for the top spot in the closing stages of the practice session at the Brazilian Grand Prix.
Norris, who seized the championship lead from Piastri by just one point after his victory in the Mexican Grand Prix a fortnight back, outpaced the Melbourne-born driver by 0.023 seconds.
Earlier in the session, Oscar Piastri had been the leading McLaren throughout the hour before sprint qualifying scheduled for the evening session.
Max Verstappen, the sole remaining contender in the championship fight, sitting 36 points Norris, was classified in 17th position as his Red Bull team followed a alternative strategy.
Verstappen's team-mate the Japanese driver was the sole competitor to have an incident, if briefly, when he spun at corner four during the early running.
The Japanese slid over the curbs on exit before rotating through the gravel trap, and was lucky to get away with just a minor contact of the wall.
The Ferrari of the seven-time champion also lost it, at the final moments of the practice, turning around through the fast downhill Mergulho turn leading to the final corner on to the main straight.
The veteran ended the session in 19th place, just behind team-mate the Monegasque driver.
The McLaren drivers were significantly quicker of the rest of the field, with the German's car third fastest, 0.619 seconds slower than Piastri's best.
The Aston Martin of Fernando Alonso was fourth quickest, with the Sauber of Gabriel Bortoleto fifth from the Mercedes of George Russell and Alpine's Gasly and Williams' Sainz.
