Lando Norris Edges Out Oscar Piastri in Sao Paulo Practice Session
The British driver has outperformed his teammate at each of the past five grands prix.
Lando Norris narrowly beat fellow driver and title rival Oscar Piastri for the top spot in the dying seconds of practice at the Sao Paulo Grand Prix.
The British racer, who grabbed the title advantage from his teammate by a single point after his victory in the Mexican Grand Prix two weeks ago, outpaced the Australian by a mere 0.023s.
Before then, Oscar Piastri had been the fastest McLaren driver for most of the session before the sprint shootout due at 18:30 GMT.
Max Verstappen, the sole remaining contender in realistic title contention, sitting 36 points behind Norris, ended up in 17th position as his team followed a different programme.
Verstappen's team-mate Yuki Tsunoda was the only driver to go off, though minor, when he lost control at the fourth corner soon after starting.
The Japanese slid over the track edges before sliding over the run-off area, and was lucky to avoid just a minor contact of the wall.
Ferrari's the seven-time champion also had a spin, at the final moments of the practice, spinning around through the fast downhill Mergulho turn leading to the last turn on to the pit straight.
The seven-time champion ended the session in 19th place, trailing team-mate the Monegasque driver.
Norris and Piastri were far ahead of the remaining drivers, with Nico Hulkenberg's car in third, 0.619 seconds slower than Piastri's pace.
The Aston Martin of Fernando Alonso was in fourth, with Sauber's Bortoleto in front of Mercedes' George Russell and Alpine's Pierre Gasly and Williams' Carlos Sainz.
