Norris Tops Oscar Piastri in Brazilian Practice
Lando Norris has outperformed Oscar Piastri at all of the past five grands prix.
Lando Norris narrowly beat team-mate and title rival the Australian for the fastest time in the final moments of the practice session at the Sao Paulo Grand Prix.
The British racer, who took the title advantage from Piastri by a single point after winning in Mexico City two weeks ago, beat the Australian by 0.023 seconds.
Before then, Piastri had been the fastest McLaren driver throughout the hour before sprint qualifying due at 18:30 GMT.
Max Verstappen, the sole remaining contender in the championship fight, trailing 36 points Norris, was classified in 17th place as his Red Bull team followed a unique setup.
His teammate Yuki Tsunoda was the only driver to crash, if briefly, when he spun at corner four during the early running.
Tsunoda spun out over the exit kerbs before rotating through the escape zone, and was lucky to escape with just a minor contact of the wall.
Ferrari's the seven-time champion also lost it, at the conclusion of the session, turning around through the quick descending corner leading to the final bend on to the start-finish straight.
The veteran ended the session in 19th, trailing team-mate the Monegasque driver.
Norris and Piastri were far ahead of the other competitors, with the German's Sauber third fastest, 0.619 seconds behind Piastri's pace.
The Aston Martin of the Spanish driver was fourth quickest, with Sauber's Bortoleto ahead of the Mercedes of Russell and Alpine's Pierre Gasly and Williams' Carlos Sainz.
