Norris Tops Oscar Piastri in Sao Paulo Practice Session
The British driver has outperformed his teammate at all of the previous five race weekends.
Lando Norris just pipped fellow driver and championship contender Oscar Piastri for the fastest time in the final moments of practice at the Brazilian Grand Prix.
Norris, who seized the points lead from his teammate by a single point after winning in the Mexican Grand Prix a fortnight back, outpaced the Australian by a mere 0.023s.
Before then, Piastri had been the leading McLaren during the running before the sprint shootout set to begin at 6:30 PM GMT.
The Red Bull star, the sole remaining contender in realistic title contention, sitting 36 points behind Norris, finished in P17 as his team followed a unique setup.
His teammate Yuki Tsunoda was the sole competitor to have an incident, if briefly, when he rotated at Turn Four soon after starting.
The Japanese spun out over the track edges before sliding over the gravel trap, and was lucky to avoid just a minor contact of the fence.
Ferrari's Lewis Hamilton also lost it, at the conclusion of the session, turning around through the fast downhill Mergulho turn before the last turn on to the start-finish straight.
Hamilton wrapped up in P19, just behind team-mate the Monegasque driver.
Norris and Piastri were well clear of the remaining drivers, with Nico Hulkenberg's car third fastest, 0.619secs off the Australian's time.
The Aston Martin of the Spanish driver was in fourth, with Sauber's Bortoleto ahead of the Mercedes of Russell and Alpine's Pierre Gasly and the Williams of Carlos Sainz.
