Lando Norris Edges Out Oscar Piastri in Sao Paulo Practice
Lando Norris has outscored Oscar Piastri at each of the previous five race weekends.
The McLaren driver edged out team-mate and title rival the Australian for the quickest lap in the closing stages of the practice session at the Brazilian Grand Prix.
The British racer, who seized the points lead from Piastri by just one point after winning in the Mexican Grand Prix a fortnight back, beat the Australian by a tiny margin of 0.023secs.
Before then, Oscar Piastri had been the fastest McLaren driver during the running before sprint qualifying set to begin at 18:30 GMT.
Max Verstappen, the sole remaining contender in the championship fight, lying 36 points behind Norris, finished in 17th place as his Red Bull team ran a different programme.
His teammate Yuki Tsunoda was the only driver to have an incident, albeit lightly, when he rotated at the fourth corner soon after starting.
Tsunoda slid over the curbs on exit before sliding over the run-off area, and was lucky to get away with just a light touch of the barrier.
Ferrari's the seven-time champion also had a spin, at the final moments of the session, turning around through the high-speed Mergulho corner before the final bend on to the pit straight.
The veteran wrapped up in P19, one place behind teammate Charles Leclerc.
The McLaren pair were well clear of the other competitors, with the German's Sauber in third, over half a second slower than Piastri's best.
The Aston Martin of the Spanish driver was fourth quickest, with the Sauber of Bortoleto fifth from Mercedes' George Russell and the Alpine of Gasly and the Williams of Carlos Sainz.
