Norris Edges Out Oscar Piastri in Brazilian Practice Session
The British driver has outperformed his teammate at all of the past five race weekends.
Lando Norris just pipped team-mate and title rival the Australian for the fastest time in the final moments of practice at the Sao Paulo Grand Prix.
The British racer, who took the title advantage from Piastri by one point after his victory in the Mexican Grand Prix recently, beat the Australian by 0.023 seconds.
Before then, Oscar Piastri had been the quickest of the McLaren pair during the running before sprint qualifying due at the evening session.
The Red Bull star, the sole remaining contender in the points battle, trailing 36 points behind Norris, ended up in 17th place as his team followed a unique setup.
His teammate Yuki Tsunoda was the only driver to crash, albeit lightly, when he rotated at the fourth corner soon after starting.
Tsunoda lost control over the track edges before spinning across the escape zone, and was blessed to get away with just a minor contact of the wall.
Ferrari's Lewis Hamilton also lost it, at the final moments of the session, spinning around through the fast downhill Mergulho turn approaching the final bend on to the pit straight.
Hamilton wrapped up in P19, just behind team-mate Charles Leclerc.
The McLaren pair were far ahead of the rest of the field, with the German's car P3, 0.619 seconds slower than Piastri's best.
Aston Martin's the Spanish driver was fourth quickest, with the Sauber of Bortoleto in front of the Mercedes of Russell and Alpine's Gasly and Williams' Carlos Sainz.
