Lando Norris Tops Oscar Piastri in Sao Paulo Practice
The British driver has outperformed Oscar Piastri at each of the previous five grands prix.
The McLaren driver just pipped team-mate and title rival the Australian for the quickest lap in the closing stages of the practice session at the Brazilian Grand Prix.
The British racer, who took the title advantage from Piastri by just one point after his victory in Mexico City two weeks ago, outpaced the Australian by a mere 0.023s.
Before then, Oscar Piastri had been the leading McLaren for most of the session before sprint qualifying scheduled for the evening session.
Max Verstappen, the other racer in realistic title contention, sitting with a 36-point deficit Norris, finished in 17th place as his team opted for a alternative strategy.
Verstappen's team-mate Yuki Tsunoda was the only driver to have an incident, albeit lightly, when he spun at Turn Four soon after starting.
Tsunoda slid over the exit kerbs before spinning across the escape zone, and was lucky to get away with just a minor contact of the barrier.
The Ferrari of the seven-time champion also lost it, at the final moments of the session, rotating twice through the fast downhill Mergulho turn approaching the last turn on to the pit straight.
The seven-time champion wrapped up in 19th, just behind teammate the Monegasque driver.
Norris and Piastri were far ahead of the other competitors, with Nico Hulkenberg's Sauber in third, over half a second off the Australian's time.
The Aston Martin of Fernando Alonso was in fourth, with the Sauber of Gabriel Bortoleto in front of the Mercedes of Russell and the Alpine of Pierre Gasly and Williams' Carlos Sainz.
