Norris Edges Out Piastri in Sao Paulo Practice
The British driver has outscored his teammate at all of the past five grands prix.
Lando Norris edged out team-mate and title rival the Australian for the top spot in the closing stages of the practice session at the Sao Paulo Grand Prix.
Norris, who seized the points lead from Piastri by a single point after taking the win in Mexico City recently, topped the Melbourne-born driver by a tiny margin of 0.023secs.
Until that point, Oscar Piastri had been the quickest of the McLaren pair throughout the hour before sprint qualifying due at the evening session.
Max Verstappen, the only other driver in the points battle, lying 36 points behind behind Norris, was classified in 17th position as his Red Bull team ran a alternative strategy.
Verstappen's team-mate the Japanese driver was the only driver to have an incident, if briefly, when he lost control at the fourth corner during the early running.
The Japanese slid over the curbs on exit before rotating through the escape zone, and was fortunate to escape with just a light touch of the wall.
Ferrari's the seven-time champion also spun, at the very end of the practice, turning around through the fast downhill Mergulho turn approaching the final corner on to the pit straight.
The veteran ended the session in 19th, trailing team-mate the Monegasque driver.
The McLaren pair were well clear of the remaining drivers, with the German's car in third, 0.619 seconds off the Australian's time.
The Aston Martin of the Spanish driver was fourth quickest, with the Sauber of Bortoleto in front of the Mercedes of Russell and Alpine's Pierre Gasly and Williams' Sainz.
