Norris Tops Piastri in Brazilian Practice Session
Lando Norris has outscored Oscar Piastri at each of the past five grands prix.
Lando Norris narrowly beat team-mate and title rival Oscar Piastri for the top spot in the dying seconds of practice at the Sao Paulo Grand Prix.
Norris, who grabbed the title advantage from Piastri by a single point after his victory in Mexico City recently, outpaced the Australian by 0.023 seconds.
Before then, Oscar Piastri had been the quickest of the McLaren pair during the running before the sprint shootout scheduled for 18:30 GMT.
The Red Bull star, the sole remaining contender in the championship fight, trailing with a 36-point deficit Norris, was classified in 17th position as his Red Bull team followed a unique setup.
His teammate Yuki Tsunoda was the sole competitor to crash, if briefly, when he spun at Turn Four soon after starting.
Tsunoda lost control over the exit kerbs before sliding over the run-off area, and was blessed to get away with just a minor contact of the fence.
Ferrari's the seven-time champion also had a spin, at the conclusion of the session, rotating twice through the fast downhill Mergulho turn approaching the last turn on to the pit straight.
The veteran finished practice in P19, one place behind teammate the Monegasque driver.
The McLaren drivers were well clear of the other competitors, with the German's car third fastest, 0.619secs behind the Australian's time.
Aston Martin's the Spanish driver was fourth fastest, with Sauber's Gabriel Bortoleto fifth from Mercedes' George Russell and Alpine's Pierre Gasly and Williams' Carlos Sainz.
