Lando Norris Edges Out Piastri in Brazilian Practice Session
Lando Norris has outscored Oscar Piastri at all of the last five grands prix.
The McLaren driver edged out fellow driver and championship contender Oscar Piastri for the fastest time in the closing stages of practice at the Sao Paulo Grand Prix.
The British racer, who seized the championship lead from his teammate by a single point after his victory in Mexico City recently, beat the Australian by 0.023 seconds.
Until that point, Oscar Piastri had been the fastest McLaren driver throughout the hour before sprint qualifying set to begin at 18:30 GMT.
Max Verstappen, the other racer in realistic title contention, trailing with a 36-point deficit behind Norris, was classified in 17th position as his team ran a alternative strategy.
Verstappen's team-mate Yuki Tsunoda was the sole competitor to have an incident, albeit lightly, when he rotated at corner four early in the session.
The Japanese lost control over the exit kerbs before spinning across the escape zone, and was lucky to avoid just a minor contact of the barrier.
The Ferrari of Lewis Hamilton also had a spin, at the very end of the session, rotating twice through the quick descending Mergulho turn approaching the last turn on to the start-finish straight.
Hamilton ended the session in 19th, one place behind teammate Charles Leclerc.
Norris and Piastri were well clear of the other competitors, with the German's car in third, 0.619 seconds behind the Australian's time.
Aston Martin's Fernando Alonso was in fourth, with Sauber's Gabriel Bortoleto ahead of Mercedes' Russell and the Alpine of Pierre Gasly and Williams' Sainz.