Lando Norris Tops Oscar Piastri in Brazilian Practice Session
The British driver has outscored his teammate at all of the last five grands prix.
The McLaren driver just pipped fellow driver and championship contender the Australian for the top spot in the final moments of practice at the Brazilian Grand Prix.
The British racer, who took the title advantage from Piastri by a single point after taking the win in Mexico City two weeks ago, outpaced the Australian by a tiny margin of 0.023secs.
Until that point, Oscar Piastri had been the leading McLaren during the running before sprint qualifying due at the evening session.
Max Verstappen, the only other driver in realistic title contention, trailing with a 36-point deficit behind Norris, ended up in P17 as his Red Bull team ran a alternative strategy.
Verstappen's team-mate Yuki Tsunoda was the sole competitor to have an incident, though minor, when he lost control at Turn Four soon after starting.
The Japanese spun out over the track edges before rotating through the escape zone, and was fortunate to escape with just a minor contact of the wall.
The Ferrari of Lewis Hamilton also lost it, at the final moments of the practice, rotating twice through the quick descending corner approaching the last turn on to the main straight.
Hamilton finished practice in 19th, trailing teammate the Monegasque driver.
Norris and Piastri were well clear of the remaining drivers, with the German's car in third, 0.619secs off Piastri's best.
The Aston Martin of Fernando Alonso was fourth quickest, with Sauber's Bortoleto ahead of Mercedes' George Russell and Alpine's Pierre Gasly and Williams' Sainz.
