Norris Tops Oscar Piastri in Brazilian Practice
Lando Norris has beaten his teammate at all of the previous five grands prix.
Lando Norris just pipped team-mate and championship contender 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 points lead from Piastri by a single point after his victory in the Mexican Grand Prix recently, outpaced the Australian by 0.023 seconds.
Until that point, Oscar Piastri had been the quickest of the McLaren pair for most of the session before sprint qualifying scheduled for 6:30 PM GMT.
Max Verstappen, the other racer in realistic title contention, lying 36 points behind Norris, was classified in 17th place as his Red Bull team followed a unique setup.
His teammate Yuki Tsunoda was the sole competitor to go off, if briefly, when he lost control at Turn Four during the early running.
Tsunoda spun out over the curbs on exit before spinning across the gravel trap, and was fortunate to escape with just a minor contact of the wall.
The Ferrari of Lewis Hamilton also spun, at the final moments of the session, spinning around through the high-speed Mergulho turn before the final bend on to the pit straight.
The seven-time champion wrapped up in P19, trailing teammate the Monegasque driver.
The McLaren drivers were well clear of the other competitors, with the German's Sauber third fastest, over half a second behind Piastri's best.
Aston Martin's Fernando Alonso was fourth quickest, with Sauber's Gabriel Bortoleto fifth from Mercedes' George Russell and the Alpine of Pierre Gasly and Williams' Carlos Sainz.