Lando Norris Tops Piastri in Sao Paulo Practice Session
Lando Norris has outperformed his teammate at all of the past five race weekends.
Lando Norris just pipped fellow driver and title rival the Australian for the quickest lap in the final moments of the practice session at the Brazilian Grand Prix.
Norris, who took the title advantage from his teammate by just one point after taking the win in Mexico City two weeks ago, outpaced the Australian by 0.023 seconds.
Before then, Oscar Piastri had been the quickest of the McLaren pair throughout the hour before sprint qualifying scheduled for 18:30 GMT.
Max Verstappen, the sole remaining contender in the championship fight, sitting 36 points behind Norris, ended up in 17th position as his Red Bull team followed a alternative strategy.
Verstappen's team-mate Yuki Tsunoda was the only driver to crash, albeit lightly, when he rotated at corner four during the early running.
The Japanese spun out over the track edges before rotating through the escape zone, and was lucky to get away with just a light touch of the fence.
Ferrari's the seven-time champion also lost it, at the final moments of the session, turning around through the fast downhill Mergulho turn leading to the last turn on to the pit straight.
The veteran finished practice in 19th, just behind teammate the Monegasque driver.
The McLaren pair were significantly quicker of the rest of the field, with the German's car P3, 0.619 seconds behind the Australian's time.
The Aston Martin of Fernando Alonso was fourth fastest, with Sauber's Bortoleto in front of the Mercedes of Russell and Alpine's Pierre Gasly and Williams' Sainz.
