Norris Tops Oscar Piastri in Sao Paulo Practice Session
Lando Norris has outperformed his teammate at all of the last five grands prix.
The McLaren driver narrowly beat fellow driver and championship contender the Australian for the top spot in the closing stages of the practice session at the Brazilian Grand Prix.
Norris, who grabbed the championship lead from his teammate by just one point after his victory in Mexico City two weeks ago, outpaced the Melbourne-born driver by 0.023 seconds.
Earlier in the session, Oscar Piastri had been the quickest of the McLaren pair throughout the hour before sprint qualifying due at 6:30 PM GMT.
Max Verstappen, the other racer in realistic title contention, sitting 36 points Norris, finished in 17th position as his team ran a alternative strategy.
His teammate Yuki Tsunoda was the sole competitor to have an incident, if briefly, when he rotated at Turn Four during the early running.
Tsunoda spun out over the exit kerbs before rotating through the run-off area, and was fortunate to escape with just a light touch of the wall.
Ferrari's Lewis Hamilton also spun, at the conclusion of the practice, spinning around through the fast downhill Mergulho turn leading to the final corner on to the main straight.
The seven-time champion wrapped up in 19th place, just behind team-mate the Monegasque driver.
Norris and Piastri were well clear of the rest of the field, with the German's car in third, over half a second slower than Piastri's pace.
The Aston Martin of Fernando Alonso was fourth quickest, with Sauber's Bortoleto in front of the Mercedes of Russell and Alpine's Gasly and the Williams of Carlos Sainz.
