Lando Norris Tops Piastri in Sao Paulo Practice Session
The British driver has outperformed Oscar Piastri at each of the past five grands prix.
Lando Norris edged out fellow driver and title rival 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 just one point after winning in the Mexican Grand Prix two weeks ago, beat the Australian by 0.023 seconds.
Until that point, 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 realistic title contention, lying with a 36-point deficit behind Norris, ended up in 17th place as his Red Bull team followed a unique setup.
Verstappen's team-mate Yuki Tsunoda was the sole competitor to crash, though minor, when he rotated at Turn Four soon after starting.
The Japanese spun out over the exit kerbs before spinning across the escape zone, and was lucky to avoid just a slight brush of the barrier.
Ferrari's the seven-time champion also lost it, at the very end of the session, rotating twice through the high-speed corner approaching the final corner on to the pit straight.
The veteran finished practice in P19, trailing teammate the Monegasque driver.
The McLaren drivers were well clear of the rest of the field, with the German's Sauber P3, 0.619secs slower than the Australian's time.
The Aston Martin of the Spanish driver was fourth fastest, with the Sauber of Bortoleto in front of the Mercedes of George Russell and the Alpine of Pierre Gasly and Williams' Sainz.
