Lando Norris Edges Out Oscar Piastri in Sao Paulo Practice
Lando Norris has outperformed his teammate at all of the last five race weekends.
The McLaren driver just pipped team-mate and championship contender the Australian for the top spot in the closing stages of the practice session at the Brazilian Grand Prix.
The British racer, who seized the championship lead from his teammate by just one point after his victory in the Mexican Grand Prix two weeks ago, topped the Australian by a mere 0.023s.
Before then, Piastri had been the leading McLaren for most of the session before the sprint shootout set to begin at the evening session.
Max Verstappen, the other racer in the points battle, lying 36 points behind Norris, was classified in P17 as his team opted for a different programme.
Verstappen's team-mate Yuki Tsunoda was the sole competitor to have an incident, albeit lightly, when he spun at Turn Four early in the session.
Tsunoda slid over the exit kerbs before sliding over the gravel trap, and was fortunate to escape with just a light touch of the barrier.
Ferrari's Lewis Hamilton also lost it, at the conclusion of the practice, spinning around through the fast downhill Mergulho turn leading to the last turn on to the pit straight.
The seven-time champion ended the session in 19th place, trailing team-mate the Monegasque driver.
The McLaren drivers were far ahead of the other competitors, with Nico Hulkenberg's car third fastest, 0.619secs behind Piastri's best.
The Aston Martin of Fernando Alonso was in fourth, with the Sauber of Gabriel Bortoleto fifth from the Mercedes of Russell and the Alpine of Pierre Gasly and Williams' Carlos Sainz.
