Norris Leads Oscar Piastri in Sao Paulo Practice
Lando Norris has outperformed Oscar Piastri at all of the last five grands prix.
The McLaren driver just pipped fellow driver and title rival the Australian for the top spot in the dying seconds of the practice session at the Brazilian Grand Prix.
Norris, who took the championship lead from his teammate by a single point after his victory in the Mexican Grand Prix two weeks ago, topped the Melbourne-born driver by a mere 0.023s.
Before then, Piastri had been the fastest McLaren driver for most of the session before the sprint shootout due at 6:30 PM GMT.
Max Verstappen, the sole remaining contender in realistic title contention, trailing with a 36-point deficit behind Norris, finished in 17th position as his Red Bull team ran a alternative strategy.
His teammate the Japanese driver was the only driver to have an incident, if briefly, when he spun at corner four during the early running.
The Japanese lost control over the exit kerbs before spinning across the run-off area, and was fortunate to escape with just a slight brush of the wall.
The Ferrari of the seven-time champion also had a spin, at the conclusion of the session, turning around through the fast downhill Mergulho corner before the last turn on to the start-finish straight.
The veteran ended the session in 19th, one place behind teammate the Monegasque driver.
The McLaren drivers were significantly quicker of the remaining drivers, with the German's Sauber third fastest, 0.619 seconds behind Piastri's best.
The Aston Martin of Fernando Alonso was fourth quickest, with Sauber's Bortoleto in front of Mercedes' Russell and Alpine's Gasly and the Williams of Sainz.