Norris Tops Piastri in Sao Paulo Practice Session
Lando Norris has outperformed his teammate at each of the past five race weekends.
The McLaren driver edged out fellow driver and title rival the Australian for the quickest lap in the dying seconds of practice at the Sao Paulo Grand Prix.
The British racer, who grabbed the points lead from his teammate by just one point after his victory in the Mexican Grand Prix a fortnight back, topped the Australian by 0.023 seconds.
Earlier in the session, Oscar Piastri had been the leading McLaren during the running before the sprint shootout scheduled for the evening session.
Max Verstappen, the only other driver in realistic title contention, lying 36 points behind Norris, finished in 17th place as his team followed a unique setup.
Verstappen's team-mate the Japanese driver was the only driver to crash, though minor, when he lost control at corner four soon after starting.
The Japanese lost control over the track edges before rotating through the run-off area, and was blessed to escape with just a light touch of the wall.
Ferrari's the seven-time champion also had a spin, at the conclusion of the session, spinning around through the quick descending Mergulho corner approaching the final bend on to the main straight.
The seven-time champion finished practice in 19th, one place behind teammate the Monegasque driver.
The McLaren pair were far ahead of the rest of the field, with the German's car P3, 0.619secs off the Australian's time.
The Aston Martin of the Spanish driver was in fourth, with the Sauber of Bortoleto ahead of Mercedes' Russell and Alpine's Gasly and the Williams of Sainz.
