Lando Norris Edges Out Piastri in Sao Paulo Practice Session
The British driver has outperformed his teammate at all of the previous five race weekends.
The McLaren driver just pipped fellow driver and title rival Oscar Piastri for the fastest time in the final moments of the practice session at the Sao Paulo Grand Prix.
The British racer, who grabbed the championship lead from his teammate by a single point after his victory in Mexico City a fortnight back, outpaced the Melbourne-born driver by 0.023 seconds.
Until that point, 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 only other driver in realistic title contention, lying 36 points Norris, ended up in 17th position as his Red Bull team ran a unique setup.
Verstappen's team-mate Yuki Tsunoda was the only driver to crash, though minor, when he spun at Turn Four early in the session.
Tsunoda spun out over the curbs on exit before spinning across the run-off area, and was blessed to avoid just a slight brush of the barrier.
Ferrari's Lewis Hamilton also had a spin, at the very end of the practice, rotating twice through the fast downhill Mergulho turn leading to the final corner on to the main straight.
Hamilton ended the session in 19th place, one place behind teammate Charles Leclerc.
The McLaren pair were well clear of the other competitors, with Nico Hulkenberg's Sauber third fastest, over half a second behind the Australian's time.
The Aston Martin of Fernando Alonso was fourth quickest, with Sauber's Gabriel Bortoleto ahead of Mercedes' George Russell and Alpine's Gasly and the Williams of Sainz.
