Lando Norris Edges Out Piastri in Sao Paulo Practice
The British driver has outperformed Oscar Piastri at all of the last five grands prix.
The McLaren driver just pipped team-mate and title rival the Australian for the fastest time in the closing stages of practice at the Sao Paulo Grand Prix.
The British racer, who took the title advantage from his teammate by 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 fastest McLaren driver for most of the session before sprint qualifying set to begin at the evening session.
Max Verstappen, the other racer in the championship fight, sitting 36 points behind behind Norris, was classified in 17th position as his team followed a unique setup.
Verstappen's team-mate the Japanese driver was the sole competitor to go off, albeit lightly, when he rotated at the fourth corner early in the session.
The Japanese lost control over the track edges before sliding over the run-off area, and was lucky to get away with just a minor contact of the fence.
Ferrari's the seven-time champion also had a spin, at the very end of the practice, rotating twice through the high-speed Mergulho turn before the final corner on to the start-finish straight.
The veteran ended the session in 19th place, just behind team-mate the Monegasque driver.
The McLaren drivers were far ahead of the remaining drivers, with Nico Hulkenberg's Sauber third fastest, 0.619secs slower than the Australian's time.
Aston Martin's Fernando Alonso was in fourth, with Sauber's Gabriel Bortoleto in front of Mercedes' George Russell and the Alpine of Gasly and Williams' Carlos Sainz.
