Norris Tops Oscar Piastri in Sao Paulo Practice Session
The British driver has outscored Oscar Piastri at each of the past five grands prix.
Lando Norris edged out fellow driver and title rival the Australian for the fastest time in the closing stages of the practice session at the Sao Paulo Grand Prix.
The British racer, who grabbed the championship lead from his teammate by a single point after his victory in the Mexican Grand Prix two weeks ago, topped the Australian by a tiny margin of 0.023secs.
Until that point, Oscar Piastri had been the fastest McLaren driver throughout the hour before the sprint shootout set to begin at the evening session.
Max Verstappen, the other racer in the points battle, sitting 36 points Norris, finished in P17 as his Red Bull team opted for a unique setup.
Verstappen's team-mate Yuki Tsunoda was the only driver to crash, albeit lightly, when he lost control at corner four during the early running.
The Japanese slid over the curbs on exit before spinning across the run-off area, and was lucky to get away with just a slight brush of the barrier.
Ferrari's Lewis Hamilton also had a spin, at the very end of the practice, spinning around through the quick descending Mergulho corner before the last turn on to the start-finish straight.
The veteran ended the session in 19th, just behind team-mate Charles Leclerc.
The McLaren pair were significantly quicker of the rest of the field, with the German's Sauber in third, 0.619 seconds slower than Piastri's best.
The Aston Martin of the Spanish driver was fourth quickest, with the Sauber of Gabriel Bortoleto in front of the Mercedes of Russell and the Alpine of Gasly and the Williams of Sainz.
