Lando Norris Tops Oscar Piastri in Sao Paulo Practice Session
Lando Norris has beaten his teammate at each of the last five grands prix.
Lando Norris edged out fellow driver and championship contender Oscar Piastri for the quickest lap in the closing stages of practice at the Brazilian Grand Prix.
The British racer, who seized the points lead from his teammate by just one point after his victory in the Mexican Grand Prix recently, topped the Australian by a tiny margin of 0.023secs.
Until that point, Piastri had been the quickest of the McLaren pair for most of the session before the sprint shootout due at 18:30 GMT.
Max Verstappen, the only other driver in the championship fight, lying 36 points behind Norris, was classified in 17th position as his Red Bull team followed a alternative strategy.
Verstappen's team-mate Yuki Tsunoda was the only driver to have an incident, albeit lightly, when he rotated at the fourth corner soon after starting.
The Japanese lost control over the exit kerbs before spinning across the run-off area, and was blessed to avoid just a slight brush of the barrier.
Ferrari's the seven-time champion also had a spin, at the very end of the session, rotating twice through the quick descending Mergulho turn leading to the last turn on to the start-finish straight.
The seven-time champion wrapped up in 19th place, just behind teammate the Monegasque driver.
The McLaren drivers were well clear of the other competitors, with Nico Hulkenberg's car P3, 0.619secs off Piastri's pace.
Aston Martin's Fernando Alonso was fourth quickest, with the Sauber of Gabriel Bortoleto in front of Mercedes' George Russell and Alpine's Gasly and Williams' Sainz.
