Lando Norris Tops Oscar Piastri in Sao Paulo Practice
Lando Norris has beaten his teammate at all of the previous five race weekends.
Lando Norris edged out fellow driver and title rival the Australian for the quickest lap in the final moments of practice at the Brazilian Grand Prix.
The British racer, who seized the title advantage from his teammate by one point after his victory in Mexico City two weeks ago, topped the Australian by a tiny margin of 0.023secs.
Before then, Piastri had been the leading McLaren throughout the hour before the sprint shootout set to begin at 18:30 GMT.
Max Verstappen, the sole remaining contender in the championship fight, trailing 36 points behind behind Norris, ended up in 17th position as his Red Bull team opted for a different programme.
His teammate Yuki Tsunoda was the sole competitor to crash, though minor, when he lost control at Turn Four soon after starting.
Tsunoda slid over the curbs on exit before spinning across the escape zone, and was blessed to get away with just a light touch of the fence.
The Ferrari of Lewis Hamilton also had a spin, at the final moments of the session, spinning around through the high-speed Mergulho turn leading to the final corner on to the pit straight.
The seven-time champion ended the session in 19th, trailing team-mate the Monegasque driver.
Norris and Piastri were well clear of the remaining drivers, with the German's Sauber in third, over half a second behind the Australian's time.
The Aston Martin of the Spanish driver was fourth quickest, with Sauber's Gabriel Bortoleto fifth from Mercedes' George Russell and Alpine's Pierre Gasly and Williams' Carlos Sainz.
