Lando Norris Leads Oscar Piastri in Brazilian Practice Session
Lando Norris has beaten his teammate at all of the last five grands prix.
Lando Norris narrowly beat fellow driver and title rival Oscar Piastri for the fastest time in the dying seconds of the practice session at the Sao Paulo Grand Prix.
Norris, who took the title advantage from Piastri by one point after his victory in the Mexican Grand Prix a fortnight back, beat the Australian by a tiny margin of 0.023secs.
Until that point, Oscar Piastri had been the quickest of the McLaren pair for most of the session before the sprint shootout set to begin at 6:30 PM GMT.
Max Verstappen, the only other driver in the championship fight, sitting 36 points behind behind Norris, finished in 17th place as his Red Bull team ran a different programme.
Verstappen's team-mate the Japanese driver was the only driver to go off, albeit lightly, when he rotated at the fourth corner soon after starting.
The Japanese spun out over the exit kerbs before spinning across the run-off area, and was lucky to get away with just a slight brush of the fence.
The Ferrari of Lewis Hamilton also spun, at the conclusion of the practice, spinning around through the high-speed Mergulho corner before the final corner on to the main straight.
Hamilton finished practice in 19th, one place behind teammate Charles Leclerc.
Norris and Piastri were well clear of the remaining drivers, with Nico Hulkenberg's Sauber P3, 0.619secs off Piastri's pace.
Aston Martin's the Spanish driver was fourth fastest, with the Sauber of Bortoleto in front of the Mercedes of George Russell and the Alpine of Gasly and the Williams of Sainz.