Norris Tops Piastri in Sao Paulo Practice
Lando Norris has outscored his teammate at all of the previous five grands prix.
Lando Norris narrowly beat team-mate and title rival Oscar Piastri for the top spot in the final moments of the practice session at the Brazilian Grand Prix.
The British racer, who grabbed the title advantage from his teammate by just one point after winning in Mexico City two weeks ago, beat the Australian by a tiny margin of 0.023secs.
Before then, Piastri had been the quickest of the McLaren pair for most of the session before sprint qualifying set to begin at 6:30 PM GMT.
Max Verstappen, the sole remaining contender in realistic title contention, trailing 36 points behind behind Norris, finished in 17th place as his team opted for a alternative strategy.
His teammate Yuki Tsunoda was the only driver to have an incident, if briefly, when he rotated at Turn Four early in the session.
Tsunoda slid over the curbs on exit before rotating through the gravel trap, and was fortunate to get away with just a minor contact of the wall.
Ferrari's the seven-time champion also had a spin, at the final moments of the session, rotating twice through the fast downhill Mergulho corner leading to the final bend on to the pit straight.
The veteran ended the session in P19, trailing teammate Charles Leclerc.
The McLaren pair were far ahead of the rest of the field, with the German's Sauber third fastest, 0.619secs slower than Piastri's pace.
The Aston Martin of Fernando Alonso was fourth fastest, with Sauber's Bortoleto fifth from Mercedes' George Russell and the Alpine of Pierre Gasly and the Williams of Carlos Sainz.
