Norris Edges Out Piastri in Brazilian Practice Session
Lando Norris has outscored his teammate at each of the past five race weekends.
Lando Norris edged out team-mate and championship contender Oscar Piastri for the quickest lap in the closing stages of practice at the Sao Paulo Grand Prix.
The British racer, who grabbed the points lead from Piastri by a single point after taking the win in the Mexican Grand Prix a fortnight back, topped the Australian by a tiny margin of 0.023secs.
Until that point, Oscar Piastri had been the fastest McLaren driver throughout the hour before the sprint shootout due at 6:30 PM GMT.
Max Verstappen, the other racer in realistic title contention, trailing 36 points behind Norris, ended up in 17th place as his team ran a different programme.
His teammate the Japanese driver was the sole competitor to have an incident, if briefly, when he spun at the fourth corner during the early running.
The Japanese spun out over the exit kerbs before spinning across the gravel trap, and was fortunate to get away with just a minor contact of the fence.
The Ferrari of Lewis Hamilton also spun, at the conclusion of the session, turning around through the fast downhill Mergulho corner before the final bend on to the start-finish straight.
The seven-time champion finished practice in 19th, trailing team-mate Charles Leclerc.
Norris and Piastri were far ahead of the remaining drivers, with Nico Hulkenberg's Sauber in third, over half a second behind the Australian's time.
Aston Martin's Fernando Alonso was in fourth, with the Sauber of Gabriel Bortoleto fifth from Mercedes' George Russell and Alpine's Gasly and the Williams of Carlos Sainz.
