Lando Norris Edges Out Oscar Piastri in Sao Paulo Practice
The British driver has outscored Oscar Piastri at all of the previous 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 Brazilian Grand Prix.
The British racer, who seized the points lead from Piastri by a single point after his victory in the Mexican Grand Prix recently, topped the Australian by a mere 0.023s.
Earlier in the session, Oscar Piastri had been the leading McLaren for most of the session before sprint qualifying set to begin at 6:30 PM GMT.
Max Verstappen, the only other driver in the championship fight, sitting with a 36-point deficit behind Norris, finished in P17 as his team opted for a unique setup.
His teammate Yuki Tsunoda was the sole competitor to crash, though minor, when he rotated at corner four soon after starting.
Tsunoda lost control over the track edges before rotating through the escape zone, and was lucky to get away with just a light touch of the wall.
The Ferrari of the seven-time champion also lost it, at the conclusion of the session, turning around through the quick descending Mergulho corner before the final corner on to the pit straight.
The seven-time champion wrapped up in P19, one place behind team-mate Charles Leclerc.
Norris and Piastri were significantly quicker of the remaining drivers, with Nico Hulkenberg's Sauber P3, 0.619 seconds behind Piastri's pace.
Aston Martin's the Spanish driver was fourth quickest, with Sauber's Bortoleto fifth from the Mercedes of George Russell and the Alpine of Gasly and the Williams of Carlos Sainz.
