Lando Norris Edges Out Oscar Piastri in Sao Paulo Practice
Lando Norris has beaten his teammate at all of the previous five race weekends.
The McLaren driver narrowly beat team-mate and title rival Oscar Piastri for the top spot in the final moments of the practice session at the Brazilian Grand Prix.
Norris, who seized the points lead from his teammate by one point after his victory in Mexico City a fortnight back, topped the Australian by a tiny margin of 0.023secs.
Until that point, Oscar Piastri had been the quickest of the McLaren pair during the running before sprint qualifying scheduled for 18:30 GMT.
Max Verstappen, the other racer in realistic title contention, lying with a 36-point deficit behind Norris, ended up in 17th position as his Red Bull team opted for a alternative strategy.
Verstappen's team-mate Yuki Tsunoda was the only driver to have an incident, if briefly, when he spun at Turn Four soon after starting.
Tsunoda spun out over the exit kerbs before rotating through the escape zone, and was fortunate to avoid just a light touch of the barrier.
The Ferrari of Lewis Hamilton also lost it, at the conclusion of the session, rotating twice through the quick descending Mergulho turn leading to the final bend on to the main straight.
Hamilton wrapped up in 19th, one place behind team-mate the Monegasque driver.
The McLaren pair were significantly quicker of the remaining drivers, with the German's car in third, 0.619secs behind Piastri's best.
The Aston Martin of Fernando Alonso was in fourth, with the Sauber of Bortoleto in front of the Mercedes of Russell and Alpine's Pierre Gasly and Williams' Sainz.
