Lando Norris Leads Oscar Piastri in Brazilian Practice
The British driver has outscored Oscar Piastri at each of the previous five race weekends.
Lando Norris edged out team-mate and championship contender the Australian for the fastest time in the final moments of practice at the Sao Paulo Grand Prix.
Norris, who grabbed the title advantage from his teammate by one point after his victory in the Mexican Grand Prix recently, topped the Melbourne-born driver by a mere 0.023s.
Before then, Piastri had been the fastest McLaren driver during the running before the sprint shootout scheduled for 6:30 PM GMT.
Max Verstappen, the other racer in realistic title contention, lying with a 36-point deficit Norris, was classified in P17 as his team ran a unique setup.
His teammate Yuki Tsunoda was the sole competitor to crash, if briefly, when he rotated at the fourth corner early in the session.
The Japanese slid over the track edges before sliding over the gravel trap, and was lucky to get away with just a light touch of the fence.
The Ferrari of Lewis Hamilton also lost it, at the conclusion of the session, turning around through the quick descending corner leading to the last turn on to the start-finish straight.
The seven-time champion ended the session in P19, trailing team-mate the Monegasque driver.
Norris and Piastri were well clear of the remaining drivers, with the German's car in third, 0.619 seconds slower than the Australian's time.
The Aston Martin of the Spanish driver was in fourth, with the Sauber of Bortoleto in front of the Mercedes of George Russell and Alpine's Gasly and the Williams of Carlos Sainz.
