Lando Norris Edges Out Piastri in Sao Paulo Practice
The British driver has outscored his teammate at all of the previous five race weekends.
Lando Norris edged out fellow driver and title rival the Australian for the quickest lap in the final moments of the practice session at the Brazilian Grand Prix.
The British racer, who grabbed the championship lead from his teammate by just one point after taking the win in Mexico City a fortnight back, outpaced the Melbourne-born driver by a mere 0.023s.
Before then, Piastri had been the leading McLaren during the running before sprint qualifying set to begin at the evening session.
Max Verstappen, the only other driver in realistic title contention, sitting with a 36-point deficit Norris, finished in 17th place as his team followed a different programme.
His teammate the Japanese driver was the only driver to crash, albeit lightly, when he rotated at the fourth corner soon after starting.
The Japanese spun out over the curbs on exit before rotating through the escape zone, and was blessed to escape with just a light touch of the fence.
The Ferrari of the seven-time champion also spun, at the final moments of the practice, turning around through the fast downhill corner before the last turn on to the pit straight.
The seven-time champion ended the session in P19, one place behind team-mate the Monegasque driver.
The McLaren drivers were far ahead of the remaining drivers, with Nico Hulkenberg's Sauber in third, 0.619 seconds slower than Piastri's pace.
Aston Martin's the Spanish driver was fourth fastest, with Sauber's Gabriel Bortoleto ahead of Mercedes' Russell and Alpine's Pierre Gasly and Williams' Carlos Sainz.
