Lando Norris Edges Out Oscar Piastri in Sao Paulo Practice
The British driver has outperformed his teammate at each of the past five grands prix.
The McLaren driver just pipped team-mate and championship contender the Australian for the quickest lap in the final moments of the practice session at the Brazilian Grand Prix.
The British racer, who took the points lead from his teammate by a single point after his victory in the Mexican Grand Prix recently, topped the Melbourne-born driver by a tiny margin of 0.023secs.
Until that point, Oscar Piastri had been the quickest of the McLaren pair during the running before sprint qualifying set to begin at the evening session.
The Red Bull star, the sole remaining contender in realistic title contention, lying with a 36-point deficit Norris, was classified in 17th place as his team opted for a unique setup.
His teammate Yuki Tsunoda was the sole competitor to crash, albeit lightly, when he spun at Turn Four during the early running.
Tsunoda slid over the track edges before sliding over the run-off area, and was lucky to get away with just a slight brush of the wall.
The Ferrari of Lewis Hamilton also lost it, at the very end of the practice, turning around through the high-speed Mergulho turn leading to the final corner on to the pit straight.
The veteran wrapped up in 19th, just behind team-mate the Monegasque driver.
The McLaren pair were well clear of the remaining drivers, with the German's Sauber third fastest, over half a second off Piastri's pace.
Aston Martin's the Spanish driver was fourth fastest, with Sauber's Bortoleto ahead of the Mercedes of George Russell and Alpine's Pierre Gasly and the Williams of Sainz.
