Lando Norris Leads Oscar Piastri in Sao Paulo Practice Session
Lando Norris has outscored his teammate at all of the previous five grands prix.
Lando Norris just pipped team-mate and title rival Oscar Piastri for the top spot in the closing stages of practice at the Sao Paulo Grand Prix.
The British racer, who grabbed the points lead from his teammate by a single point after taking the win in Mexico City recently, beat the Australian by a tiny margin of 0.023secs.
Before then, Oscar Piastri had been the fastest McLaren driver throughout the hour before sprint qualifying set to begin at 18:30 GMT.
The Red Bull star, the other racer in the championship fight, trailing 36 points behind behind Norris, finished in 17th place as his team followed a unique setup.
His teammate the Japanese driver was the sole competitor to go off, if briefly, when he spun at the fourth corner during the early running.
The Japanese lost control over the curbs on exit before rotating through the escape zone, and was fortunate to get away with just a minor contact of the barrier.
Ferrari's Lewis Hamilton also had a spin, at the final moments of the session, turning around through the high-speed corner leading to the last turn on to the main straight.
Hamilton finished practice in 19th, one place behind teammate Charles Leclerc.
Norris and Piastri were well clear of the remaining drivers, with Nico Hulkenberg's car in third, 0.619 seconds slower than Piastri's best.
Aston Martin's the Spanish driver was fourth fastest, with the Sauber of Gabriel Bortoleto fifth from the Mercedes of George Russell and Alpine's Pierre Gasly and Williams' Carlos Sainz.
