Norris Leads Piastri in Brazilian Practice Session
The British driver has beaten his teammate at all of the last five race weekends.
Lando Norris narrowly beat team-mate and title rival Oscar Piastri for the quickest lap in the closing stages of practice at the Sao Paulo Grand Prix.
Norris, who seized the title advantage from Piastri by one point after his victory in the Mexican Grand Prix recently, topped the Melbourne-born driver by 0.023 seconds.
Before then, Piastri had been the fastest McLaren driver during the running before sprint qualifying scheduled for 6:30 PM GMT.
The Red Bull star, the sole remaining contender in the championship fight, lying 36 points behind Norris, finished in 17th position as his Red Bull team ran a alternative strategy.
His teammate Yuki Tsunoda was the only driver to go off, if briefly, when he spun at Turn Four soon after starting.
The Japanese spun out over the exit kerbs before rotating through the gravel trap, 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 final moments of the session, spinning around through the fast downhill Mergulho corner leading to the final corner on to the start-finish straight.
The veteran wrapped up in 19th place, one place behind team-mate Charles Leclerc.
The McLaren drivers were well clear of the remaining drivers, with Nico Hulkenberg's Sauber in third, 0.619 seconds off Piastri's pace.
The Aston Martin of the Spanish driver was fourth quickest, with the Sauber of Gabriel Bortoleto ahead of Mercedes' George Russell and Alpine's Pierre Gasly and Williams' Sainz.
