Norris Tops Oscar Piastri in Sao Paulo Practice
The British driver has outperformed Oscar Piastri at all of the previous five race weekends.
Lando Norris edged out team-mate and title rival Oscar Piastri for the quickest lap in the final moments of practice at the Sao Paulo Grand Prix.
Norris, who grabbed the title advantage from his teammate by a single point after taking the win in the Mexican Grand Prix a fortnight back, outpaced the Melbourne-born driver by a tiny margin of 0.023secs.
Earlier in the session, Oscar Piastri had been the quickest of the McLaren pair throughout the hour before sprint qualifying due at 18:30 GMT.
Max Verstappen, the only other driver in the championship fight, lying 36 points behind Norris, finished in 17th place as his team opted for 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 soon after starting.
The Japanese spun out over the curbs on exit before spinning across the gravel trap, and was blessed to get away with just a minor contact of the barrier.
Ferrari's Lewis Hamilton also had a spin, at the very end of the practice, turning around through the quick descending Mergulho turn leading to the last turn on to the start-finish straight.
The seven-time champion finished practice in P19, just behind teammate Charles Leclerc.
The McLaren drivers were far ahead of the other competitors, with Nico Hulkenberg's Sauber third fastest, 0.619secs behind the Australian's time.
The Aston Martin of the Spanish driver was fourth fastest, with Sauber's Gabriel Bortoleto ahead of Mercedes' George Russell and the Alpine of Pierre Gasly and Williams' Carlos Sainz.
