Norris Tops Piastri in Sao Paulo Practice Session
Lando Norris has beaten his teammate at all of the previous five grands prix.
Lando Norris just pipped team-mate and title rival Oscar Piastri for the fastest time in the final moments of practice at the Sao Paulo Grand Prix.
The British racer, who took the championship lead from Piastri by just one point after taking the win in the Mexican Grand Prix a fortnight back, outpaced the Australian by 0.023 seconds.
Until that point, Piastri had been the leading McLaren during the running before sprint qualifying scheduled for 6:30 PM GMT.
The Red Bull star, the sole remaining contender in realistic title contention, lying with a 36-point deficit Norris, was classified in 17th position as his team ran a unique setup.
His teammate Yuki Tsunoda was the only driver to have an incident, though minor, when he spun at the fourth corner during the early running.
The Japanese slid over the curbs on exit before spinning across the run-off area, and was blessed to get away with just a minor contact of the wall.
Ferrari's Lewis Hamilton also spun, at the very end of the practice, spinning around through the high-speed Mergulho corner approaching the final corner on to the pit straight.
The veteran wrapped up in 19th place, just behind teammate Charles Leclerc.
The McLaren pair were well clear of the rest of the field, with the German's car in third, over half a second off Piastri's pace.
Aston Martin's the Spanish driver was fourth quickest, with the Sauber of Gabriel Bortoleto ahead of Mercedes' Russell and Alpine's Pierre Gasly and Williams' Carlos Sainz.
