Lando Norris Tops Piastri in Sao Paulo Practice Session
Lando Norris has beaten Oscar Piastri at each of the last five grands prix.
Lando Norris narrowly beat team-mate and title rival the Australian for the fastest time in the final moments of the practice session at the Brazilian Grand Prix.
Norris, who took the points lead from Piastri by just one point after winning in the Mexican Grand Prix recently, outpaced the Melbourne-born driver by a tiny margin of 0.023secs.
Before then, Piastri had been the fastest McLaren driver for most of the session before the sprint shootout due at the evening session.
The Red Bull star, the sole remaining contender in the championship fight, lying 36 points behind Norris, was classified in 17th place as his team followed a different programme.
His teammate Yuki Tsunoda was the only driver to crash, if briefly, when he spun at corner four soon after starting.
The Japanese spun out over the track edges before sliding over the escape zone, and was lucky to get away with just a light touch of the barrier.
The Ferrari of Lewis Hamilton also had a spin, at the conclusion of the practice, rotating twice through the high-speed corner approaching the final bend on to the main straight.
The seven-time champion finished practice in 19th, one place behind team-mate the Monegasque driver.
The McLaren pair were significantly quicker of the remaining drivers, with Nico Hulkenberg's Sauber in third, 0.619secs slower than Piastri's pace.
The Aston Martin of the Spanish driver was fourth fastest, with Sauber's Gabriel Bortoleto ahead of Mercedes' Russell and Alpine's Gasly and the Williams of Sainz.
