Lando Norris Edges Out Oscar Piastri in Brazilian Practice
Lando Norris has beaten Oscar Piastri at each of the previous five race weekends.
The McLaren driver just pipped team-mate and title rival the Australian for the fastest time in the closing stages of the practice session at the Sao Paulo Grand Prix.
Norris, who grabbed the title advantage from his teammate by a single point after his victory in Mexico City a fortnight back, topped the Melbourne-born driver by a tiny margin of 0.023secs.
Until that point, Piastri had been the fastest McLaren driver during the running before the sprint shootout scheduled for 18:30 GMT.
The Red Bull star, the sole remaining contender in realistic title contention, trailing with a 36-point deficit behind Norris, ended up in P17 as his team ran a different programme.
His teammate the Japanese driver was the sole competitor to go off, though minor, when he rotated at the fourth corner during the early running.
The Japanese slid over the exit kerbs before rotating through the run-off area, and was fortunate to get away with just a minor contact of the wall.
Ferrari's Lewis Hamilton also spun, at the very end of the practice, spinning around through the fast downhill corner before the last turn on to the main straight.
The veteran ended the session in 19th, just behind teammate Charles Leclerc.
The McLaren pair were well clear of the remaining drivers, with the German's car P3, 0.619secs behind Piastri's pace.
The Aston Martin of Fernando Alonso was in fourth, with Sauber's Gabriel Bortoleto in front of Mercedes' George Russell and the Alpine of Gasly and Williams' Carlos Sainz.
