Norris Edges Out Oscar Piastri in Sao Paulo Practice
Lando Norris has beaten his teammate at all of the past five race weekends.
Lando Norris just pipped team-mate and title rival the Australian for the top spot in the dying seconds of the practice session at the Sao Paulo Grand Prix.
The British racer, who took the title advantage from Piastri by a single point after taking the win in the Mexican Grand Prix a fortnight back, topped the Melbourne-born driver by a mere 0.023s.
Until that point, Oscar Piastri had been the fastest McLaren driver for most of the session before sprint qualifying set to begin at the evening session.
Max Verstappen, the sole remaining contender in realistic title contention, lying 36 points Norris, finished in P17 as his team opted for a unique setup.
Verstappen's team-mate Yuki Tsunoda was the only driver to go off, if briefly, when he rotated at Turn Four soon after starting.
The Japanese lost control over the curbs on exit before spinning across the escape zone, and was lucky to escape with just a slight brush of the fence.
Ferrari's the seven-time champion also spun, at the conclusion of the session, rotating twice through the fast downhill Mergulho turn approaching the final bend on to the start-finish straight.
The seven-time champion ended the session in P19, trailing team-mate Charles Leclerc.
The McLaren pair were well clear of the rest of the field, with Nico Hulkenberg's car third fastest, 0.619secs off Piastri's pace.
Aston Martin's the Spanish driver was fourth quickest, with the Sauber of Gabriel Bortoleto fifth from Mercedes' Russell and the Alpine of Gasly and Williams' Carlos Sainz.
