Lando Norris Tops Piastri in Sao Paulo Practice
Lando Norris has outperformed Oscar Piastri at all of the past five grands prix.
The McLaren driver edged out team-mate and championship contender the Australian for the top spot in the closing stages of practice at the Brazilian Grand Prix.
Norris, who seized the title advantage from Piastri by a single point after taking the win in the Mexican Grand Prix recently, beat the Melbourne-born driver by 0.023 seconds.
Until that point, Piastri had been the leading McLaren for most of the session before sprint qualifying due at the evening session.
Max Verstappen, the other racer in the points battle, trailing 36 points behind behind Norris, ended up in 17th position as his Red Bull team opted for a unique setup.
Verstappen's team-mate Yuki Tsunoda was the only driver to go off, though minor, when he lost control at Turn Four soon after starting.
Tsunoda slid over the curbs on exit before spinning across the run-off area, and was fortunate to avoid just a minor contact of the fence.
Ferrari's Lewis Hamilton also spun, at the final moments of the practice, turning around through the high-speed Mergulho turn approaching the last turn on to the start-finish straight.
The seven-time champion finished practice in 19th, one place behind team-mate Charles Leclerc.
The McLaren pair were significantly quicker of the rest of the field, with the German's Sauber P3, 0.619secs off Piastri's pace.
The Aston Martin of Fernando Alonso was fourth fastest, with the Sauber of Gabriel Bortoleto ahead of Mercedes' Russell and Alpine's Gasly and the Williams of Carlos Sainz.
