Lando Norris Edges Out Oscar Piastri in Sao Paulo Practice
Lando Norris has outperformed his teammate at each of the last five race weekends.
The McLaren driver edged out fellow driver and title rival the Australian for the fastest time in the closing stages of the practice session at the Sao Paulo Grand Prix.
The British racer, who grabbed the title advantage from Piastri by one point after winning in Mexico City recently, topped the Australian by a tiny margin of 0.023secs.
Earlier in the session, Oscar Piastri had been the quickest of the McLaren pair throughout the hour before the sprint shootout due at 18:30 GMT.
Max Verstappen, the sole remaining contender in the points battle, trailing 36 points Norris, finished in 17th position as his team opted for a alternative strategy.
Verstappen's team-mate the Japanese driver was the sole competitor to have an incident, though minor, when he rotated at the fourth corner during the early running.
The Japanese spun out over the track edges before rotating through the gravel trap, and was lucky to escape with just a light touch of the wall.
Ferrari's Lewis Hamilton also spun, at the final moments of the practice, turning around through the high-speed Mergulho turn leading to the final bend on to the start-finish straight.
Hamilton wrapped up in 19th place, trailing team-mate Charles Leclerc.
The McLaren drivers were well clear of the rest of the field, with Nico Hulkenberg's Sauber in third, 0.619secs slower than Piastri's best.
Aston Martin's Fernando Alonso was fourth fastest, with the Sauber of Gabriel Bortoleto fifth from the Mercedes of Russell and the Alpine of Gasly and the Williams of Sainz.