Lando Norris Tops Piastri in Brazilian Practice
Lando Norris has outscored Oscar Piastri at each of the past five grands prix.
The McLaren driver just pipped fellow driver and championship contender Oscar Piastri for the quickest lap in the closing stages of the practice session at the Sao Paulo Grand Prix.
The British racer, who took the points lead from his teammate by one point after winning in Mexico City a fortnight back, topped the Melbourne-born driver by a mere 0.023s.
Earlier in the session, Oscar Piastri had been the quickest of the McLaren pair during the running before sprint qualifying due at 18:30 GMT.
The Red Bull star, the sole remaining contender in the points battle, lying with a 36-point deficit Norris, ended up in P17 as his Red Bull team opted for a unique setup.
His teammate Yuki Tsunoda was the only driver to crash, though minor, when he rotated at corner four during the early running.
Tsunoda lost control over the track edges before rotating through the escape zone, and was blessed to escape with just a minor contact of the barrier.
Ferrari's Lewis Hamilton also lost it, at the conclusion of the session, rotating twice through the quick descending corner leading to the final corner on to the main straight.
The veteran finished practice in P19, one place behind team-mate the Monegasque driver.
Norris and Piastri were significantly quicker of the other competitors, with the German's Sauber P3, over half a second slower than Piastri's best.
Aston Martin's the Spanish driver was fourth quickest, with Sauber's Bortoleto ahead of the Mercedes of George Russell and Alpine's Pierre Gasly and the Williams of Sainz.