Lando Norris Edges Out Piastri in Sao Paulo Practice Session
The British driver has beaten his teammate at all of the previous five grands prix.
The McLaren driver narrowly beat fellow driver and championship contender the Australian for the fastest time in the final moments of practice at the Sao Paulo Grand Prix.
The British racer, who took the points lead from his teammate by one point after his victory in Mexico City a fortnight back, topped the Australian by a mere 0.023s.
Earlier in the session, Oscar Piastri had been the leading McLaren for most of the session before sprint qualifying scheduled for 6:30 PM GMT.
Max Verstappen, the only other driver in the championship fight, sitting 36 points behind Norris, ended up in 17th place as his Red Bull team ran a unique setup.
Verstappen's team-mate the Japanese driver was the sole competitor to have an incident, though minor, when he rotated at the fourth corner during the early running.
The Japanese slid over the track edges before sliding over the run-off area, and was blessed to avoid just a slight brush of the fence.
Ferrari's the seven-time champion also lost it, at the final moments of the practice, rotating twice through the high-speed Mergulho corner approaching the final bend on to the main straight.
The veteran ended the session in P19, just behind teammate Charles Leclerc.
Norris and Piastri were significantly quicker of the other competitors, with Nico Hulkenberg's car P3, 0.619secs off Piastri's pace.
The Aston Martin of the Spanish driver was in fourth, with Sauber's Bortoleto ahead of Mercedes' Russell and Alpine's Gasly and the Williams of Carlos Sainz.
