Norris Edges Out Oscar Piastri in Brazilian Practice Session
The British driver has outscored his teammate at each of the previous five race weekends.
Lando Norris edged out fellow driver and championship contender the Australian for the quickest lap in the dying seconds of practice at the Sao Paulo Grand Prix.
Norris, who seized the points lead from his teammate by a single point after taking the win in the Mexican Grand Prix two weeks ago, outpaced the Melbourne-born driver by 0.023 seconds.
Until that point, Piastri had been the fastest McLaren driver during the running before the sprint shootout due at 6:30 PM GMT.
Max Verstappen, the other racer in realistic title contention, lying with a 36-point deficit behind Norris, was classified in P17 as his team ran a unique setup.
Verstappen's team-mate Yuki Tsunoda was the sole competitor to have an incident, though minor, when he spun at corner four during the early running.
Tsunoda spun out over the exit kerbs before spinning across the run-off area, and was lucky to escape with just a slight brush of the wall.
The Ferrari of Lewis Hamilton also spun, at the final moments of the practice, rotating twice through the high-speed Mergulho turn approaching the last turn on to the main straight.
Hamilton wrapped up in P19, one place behind teammate Charles Leclerc.
Norris and Piastri were well clear of the rest of the field, with Nico Hulkenberg's Sauber P3, over half a second behind Piastri's best.
The Aston Martin of the Spanish driver was in fourth, with Sauber's Gabriel Bortoleto fifth from Mercedes' Russell and Alpine's Pierre Gasly and the Williams of Sainz.
