Lando Norris Tops Oscar Piastri in Sao Paulo Practice
The British driver has outscored his teammate at each of the last five grands prix.
Lando Norris narrowly beat team-mate and championship contender the Australian for the quickest lap in the final moments of the practice session at the Sao Paulo Grand Prix.
Norris, who seized the title advantage from Piastri by one point after winning in Mexico City two weeks ago, beat the Australian by 0.023 seconds.
Until that point, Oscar Piastri had been the quickest of the McLaren pair for most of the session before sprint qualifying scheduled for 6:30 PM GMT.
The Red Bull star, the other racer in the points battle, sitting with a 36-point deficit behind Norris, was classified in 17th place as his Red Bull team ran a different programme.
His teammate Yuki Tsunoda was the only driver to crash, if briefly, when he lost control at the fourth corner early in the session.
The Japanese slid over the curbs on exit before spinning across the escape zone, and was blessed to escape with just a slight brush of the barrier.
The Ferrari of Lewis Hamilton also had a spin, at the conclusion of the session, spinning around through the fast downhill corner before the last turn on to the main straight.
Hamilton ended the session in 19th, just behind team-mate Charles Leclerc.
The McLaren pair were far ahead of the other competitors, with the German's Sauber in third, 0.619secs behind Piastri's best.
Aston Martin's the Spanish driver was fourth fastest, with Sauber's Bortoleto fifth from the Mercedes of Russell and the Alpine of Pierre Gasly and the Williams of Sainz.