Lando Norris Tops Oscar Piastri in Sao Paulo Practice
The British driver has outperformed his teammate at each of the last five grands prix.
The McLaren driver narrowly beat fellow driver and championship contender the Australian for the quickest lap in the closing stages of practice at the Brazilian Grand Prix.
The British racer, who seized the points lead from his teammate by one point after his victory in Mexico City a fortnight back, topped the Melbourne-born driver by 0.023 seconds.
Earlier in the session, Piastri had been the fastest McLaren driver throughout the hour before the sprint shootout scheduled for 18:30 GMT.
The Red Bull star, the other racer in the points battle, trailing 36 points behind behind Norris, finished in 17th place as his team ran a unique setup.
His teammate the Japanese driver was the only driver to crash, albeit lightly, when he rotated at Turn Four during the early running.
The Japanese lost control over the exit kerbs before sliding over the gravel trap, and was lucky to get away with just a slight brush of the wall.
Ferrari's the seven-time champion also had a spin, at the very end of the session, turning around through the fast downhill corner before the last turn on to the main straight.
The veteran wrapped up in P19, just behind teammate the Monegasque driver.
The McLaren drivers were significantly quicker of the rest of the field, with the German's car third fastest, over half a second slower than the Australian's time.
The Aston Martin of Fernando Alonso was fourth fastest, with Sauber's Bortoleto ahead of Mercedes' Russell and the Alpine of Gasly and the Williams of Carlos Sainz.
