Lando Norris Tops Piastri in Sao Paulo Practice Session
The British driver has outscored his teammate at all of the past five grands prix.
Lando Norris narrowly beat fellow driver and championship contender the Australian for the quickest lap in the dying seconds 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 the Mexican Grand Prix a fortnight back, outpaced the Melbourne-born driver by a mere 0.023s.
Earlier in the session, Piastri had been the fastest McLaren driver during the running before sprint qualifying set to begin at the evening session.
The Red Bull star, the only other driver in realistic title contention, trailing with a 36-point deficit behind Norris, ended up in 17th position as his Red Bull team opted for a different programme.
His teammate Yuki Tsunoda was the only driver to go off, if briefly, when he lost control at the fourth corner soon after starting.
The Japanese spun out over the exit kerbs before sliding over the gravel trap, and was fortunate to avoid just a slight brush of the barrier.
Ferrari's Lewis Hamilton also lost it, at the conclusion of the session, turning around through the fast downhill Mergulho turn leading to the final corner on to the main straight.
The seven-time champion ended the session in 19th, one place behind teammate Charles Leclerc.
The McLaren pair were well clear of the other competitors, with the German's Sauber in third, 0.619 seconds off Piastri's best.
The Aston Martin of the Spanish driver was fourth quickest, with Sauber's Gabriel Bortoleto in front of the Mercedes of Russell and Alpine's Pierre Gasly and Williams' Sainz.
