Norris Edges Out Piastri in Brazilian Practice Session
Lando Norris has outscored Oscar Piastri at all of the last five race weekends.
Lando Norris just pipped fellow driver and championship contender the Australian for the quickest lap in the dying seconds of the practice session at the Sao Paulo Grand Prix.
The British racer, who grabbed the points lead from Piastri by just one point after winning in the Mexican Grand Prix two weeks ago, outpaced the Australian by a tiny margin of 0.023secs.
Until that point, Oscar Piastri had been the leading McLaren throughout the hour before sprint qualifying set to begin at 18:30 GMT.
Max Verstappen, the other racer in the points battle, trailing with a 36-point deficit Norris, ended up in 17th place as his team followed a different programme.
Verstappen's team-mate Yuki Tsunoda was the sole competitor to go off, though minor, when he spun at corner four early in the session.
The Japanese slid over the track edges before sliding over the gravel trap, and was fortunate to get away with just a slight brush of the wall.
Ferrari's Lewis Hamilton also lost it, at the final moments of the practice, spinning around through the high-speed corner approaching the final corner on to the start-finish straight.
Hamilton wrapped up in 19th, one place behind teammate Charles Leclerc.
The McLaren drivers were significantly quicker of the remaining drivers, with Nico Hulkenberg's Sauber P3, 0.619 seconds off Piastri's pace.
Aston Martin's Fernando Alonso was in fourth, with the Sauber of Bortoleto in front of Mercedes' Russell and the Alpine of Pierre Gasly and Williams' Carlos Sainz.
