Lando Norris Leads Oscar Piastri in Sao Paulo Practice
Lando Norris has outscored his teammate at all of the past five grands prix.
Lando Norris edged out team-mate and title rival Oscar Piastri for the top spot in the closing stages of the practice session at the Brazilian Grand Prix.
The British racer, who seized the championship lead from Piastri by just one point after taking the win in Mexico City a fortnight back, topped the Melbourne-born driver by a mere 0.023s.
Before then, Piastri had been the fastest McLaren driver throughout the hour before sprint qualifying set to begin at 18:30 GMT.
Max Verstappen, the sole remaining contender in the championship fight, lying 36 points behind behind Norris, ended up in 17th position as his team followed a unique setup.
His teammate Yuki Tsunoda was the only driver to go off, albeit lightly, when he lost control at the fourth corner early in the session.
Tsunoda spun out over the exit kerbs before rotating through the run-off area, and was fortunate to get away with just a minor contact of the wall.
The Ferrari of Lewis Hamilton also spun, at the conclusion of the practice, spinning around through the high-speed Mergulho corner before the final bend on to the start-finish straight.
Hamilton wrapped up in 19th place, trailing teammate Charles Leclerc.
The McLaren drivers were far ahead of the other competitors, with the German's Sauber P3, 0.619secs off Piastri's pace.
The Aston Martin of the Spanish driver was fourth fastest, with Sauber's Gabriel Bortoleto fifth from Mercedes' George Russell and Alpine's Gasly and Williams' Sainz.
