Lando Norris Tops Oscar Piastri in Sao Paulo Practice
The British driver has outscored Oscar Piastri at each of the last five grands prix.
The McLaren driver narrowly beat fellow driver and title rival the Australian for the top spot in the closing stages of the practice session at the Brazilian Grand Prix.
Norris, who grabbed the title advantage from his teammate by one point after taking the win in Mexico City two weeks ago, outpaced the Australian by a tiny margin of 0.023secs.
Before then, Oscar Piastri had been the quickest of the McLaren pair for most of the session before the sprint shootout due at 6:30 PM GMT.
Max Verstappen, the sole remaining contender in the championship fight, sitting with a 36-point deficit behind Norris, finished in 17th position as his Red Bull team opted for a different programme.
His teammate Yuki Tsunoda was the only driver to have an incident, though minor, when he spun at Turn Four soon after starting.
The Japanese lost control over the track edges before rotating through the gravel trap, and was lucky to escape with just a light touch of the fence.
The Ferrari of Lewis Hamilton also had a spin, at the final moments of the session, turning around through the fast downhill Mergulho turn before the last turn on to the pit straight.
The veteran ended the session in P19, trailing team-mate the Monegasque driver.
The McLaren drivers were well clear of the rest of the field, with the German's Sauber P3, 0.619 seconds slower than Piastri's best.
Aston Martin's Fernando Alonso was in fourth, with the Sauber of Bortoleto ahead of Mercedes' Russell and the Alpine of Gasly and Williams' Carlos Sainz.
