Norris Leads Piastri in Brazilian Practice Session
Lando Norris has beaten his teammate at each of the previous five race weekends.
Lando Norris narrowly beat fellow driver and title rival Oscar Piastri for the fastest time in the closing stages of the practice session at the Sao Paulo Grand Prix.
Norris, who grabbed the points lead from his teammate by a single point after winning in the Mexican Grand Prix two weeks ago, topped the Melbourne-born driver by a mere 0.023s.
Until that point, Oscar Piastri had been the quickest of the McLaren pair during the running before sprint qualifying due at 6:30 PM GMT.
Max Verstappen, the only other driver in the points battle, trailing 36 points Norris, ended up in 17th position as his team ran a different programme.
Verstappen's team-mate Yuki Tsunoda was the only driver to crash, albeit lightly, when he lost control at the fourth corner early in the session.
Tsunoda spun out over the track edges before sliding over the gravel trap, and was fortunate to avoid just a minor contact of the wall.
Ferrari's Lewis Hamilton also lost it, at the conclusion of the session, rotating twice through the quick descending Mergulho corner leading to the final bend on to the main straight.
The seven-time champion ended the session in P19, one place behind team-mate Charles Leclerc.
Norris and Piastri were significantly quicker of the other competitors, with Nico Hulkenberg's car in third, 0.619secs behind the Australian's time.
Aston Martin's the Spanish driver was in fourth, with Sauber's Gabriel Bortoleto in front of the Mercedes of Russell and the Alpine of Gasly and Williams' Sainz.