Norris Leads Oscar Piastri in Brazilian Practice
The British driver has outscored Oscar Piastri at all of the past five race weekends.
Lando Norris edged out team-mate and championship contender the Australian for the top spot in the final moments of practice at the Sao Paulo Grand Prix.
Norris, who took the championship lead from Piastri by just one point after winning in the Mexican Grand Prix a fortnight back, topped the Australian 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.
The Red Bull star, the only other driver in realistic title contention, sitting 36 points behind Norris, ended up in P17 as his Red Bull team ran a different programme.
His teammate Yuki Tsunoda was the only driver to go off, if briefly, when he spun at corner four early in the session.
The Japanese lost control over the curbs on exit before rotating through the gravel trap, and was fortunate to avoid just a slight brush of the barrier.
The Ferrari of Lewis Hamilton also had a spin, at the conclusion of the practice, spinning around through the quick descending Mergulho corner approaching the last turn on to the main straight.
Hamilton finished practice in 19th place, one place behind teammate Charles Leclerc.
The McLaren pair were significantly quicker of the other competitors, with the German's car third fastest, over half a second slower than the Australian's time.
The Aston Martin of the Spanish driver was fourth fastest, with Sauber's Bortoleto in front of Mercedes' Russell and the Alpine of Gasly and Williams' Carlos Sainz.
