Lando Norris Leads Piastri in Brazilian Practice Session
The British driver has beaten his teammate at all of the last five grands prix.
The McLaren driver narrowly beat 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.
Norris, who grabbed the title advantage from his teammate by just one point after his victory in Mexico City a fortnight back, outpaced the Melbourne-born driver by 0.023 seconds.
Before then, Oscar Piastri had been the quickest of the McLaren pair throughout the hour before the sprint shootout due at the evening session.
The Red Bull star, the sole remaining contender in the points battle, lying with a 36-point deficit behind Norris, ended up in P17 as his team opted for a alternative strategy.
His teammate Yuki Tsunoda was the sole competitor to go off, albeit lightly, when he rotated at Turn Four during the early running.
Tsunoda slid over the exit kerbs before sliding over the run-off area, and was fortunate to escape with just a minor contact of the fence.
The Ferrari of Lewis Hamilton also spun, at the conclusion of the practice, turning around through the high-speed corner approaching the final bend on to the start-finish straight.
Hamilton ended the session in 19th, one place behind team-mate Charles Leclerc.
The McLaren drivers were far ahead of the remaining drivers, with Nico Hulkenberg's car P3, over half a second slower than Piastri's best.
Aston Martin's Fernando Alonso was in fourth, with Sauber's Bortoleto fifth from Mercedes' George Russell and Alpine's Gasly and the Williams of Sainz.
