Lando Norris Tops Piastri in Sao Paulo Practice
The British driver has outperformed his teammate at each of the past five race weekends.
The McLaren driver just pipped team-mate and championship contender Oscar Piastri for the fastest time in the final moments of the practice session at the Sao Paulo Grand Prix.
The British racer, who took the championship lead from his teammate by just one point after his victory in Mexico City a fortnight back, outpaced the Melbourne-born driver by a tiny margin of 0.023secs.
Before then, Oscar Piastri had been the leading McLaren for most of the session before sprint qualifying scheduled for 18:30 GMT.
The Red Bull star, the other racer in realistic title contention, lying 36 points Norris, finished in P17 as his Red Bull team followed a different programme.
His teammate the Japanese driver was the only driver to crash, albeit lightly, when he lost control at Turn Four early in the session.
The Japanese lost control over the track edges before sliding over the escape zone, and was blessed to avoid just a light touch of the wall.
Ferrari's the seven-time champion also lost it, at the final moments of the practice, turning around through the high-speed Mergulho turn approaching the last turn on to the main straight.
The veteran finished practice in 19th, just behind teammate Charles Leclerc.
Norris and Piastri were significantly quicker of the rest of the field, with Nico Hulkenberg's Sauber in third, 0.619secs behind the Australian's time.
The Aston Martin of the Spanish driver was fourth quickest, with Sauber's Bortoleto ahead of the Mercedes of George Russell and the Alpine of Gasly and the Williams of Sainz.