Lando Norris Tops Piastri in Sao Paulo Practice Session
The British driver has outperformed his teammate at all of the previous five grands prix.
Lando Norris narrowly beat fellow driver and title rival Oscar Piastri for the fastest time in the closing stages of practice at the Brazilian Grand Prix.
Norris, who seized the championship lead from Piastri by just one point after his victory in the Mexican Grand Prix two weeks ago, beat the Australian by 0.023 seconds.
Earlier in the session, Piastri had been the fastest McLaren driver during the running before sprint qualifying scheduled for 6:30 PM GMT.
Max Verstappen, the other racer in realistic title contention, trailing 36 points behind behind Norris, was classified in 17th place as his Red Bull team ran a unique setup.
Verstappen's team-mate the Japanese driver was the only driver to have an incident, albeit lightly, when he lost control at corner four early in the session.
The Japanese spun out over the track edges before spinning across the run-off area, and was blessed to avoid just a minor contact of the wall.
Ferrari's Lewis Hamilton also spun, at the final moments of the session, rotating twice through the fast downhill Mergulho corner before the final corner on to the start-finish straight.
The seven-time champion wrapped up in 19th, trailing teammate Charles Leclerc.
The McLaren drivers were well clear of the rest of the field, with Nico Hulkenberg's Sauber third fastest, 0.619 seconds off Piastri's pace.
The Aston Martin of Fernando Alonso was fourth quickest, with Sauber's Gabriel Bortoleto fifth from Mercedes' George Russell and the Alpine of Pierre Gasly and the Williams of Sainz.