Lando Norris Leads Oscar Piastri in Sao Paulo Practice
The British driver has outperformed Oscar Piastri at all of the last five race weekends.
Lando Norris narrowly beat fellow driver and title rival the Australian for the fastest time in the final moments of the practice session at the Sao Paulo Grand Prix.
Norris, who grabbed the title advantage from Piastri by just one point after taking the win in Mexico City two weeks ago, beat the Australian by a tiny margin of 0.023secs.
Until that point, Piastri had been the fastest McLaren driver throughout the hour before the sprint shootout scheduled for 6:30 PM GMT.
Max Verstappen, the only other driver in the championship fight, sitting with a 36-point deficit Norris, was classified in 17th position as his team opted for a different programme.
Verstappen's team-mate the Japanese driver 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 rotating through the run-off area, and was fortunate to avoid just a light touch of the wall.
Ferrari's Lewis Hamilton also had a spin, at the very end of the practice, rotating twice through the high-speed Mergulho turn leading to the final corner on to the pit straight.
The veteran finished practice in 19th, just behind team-mate Charles Leclerc.
The McLaren pair were well clear of the remaining drivers, with the German's car third fastest, 0.619secs slower than Piastri's best.
Aston Martin's Fernando Alonso was fourth quickest, with the Sauber of Bortoleto fifth from Mercedes' Russell and Alpine's Gasly and Williams' Sainz.
