Norris Tops Oscar Piastri in Sao Paulo Practice
Lando Norris has outscored his teammate at all of the previous five grands prix.
The McLaren driver narrowly beat fellow driver and championship contender Oscar Piastri for the quickest lap in the dying seconds of practice at the Brazilian Grand Prix.
Norris, who grabbed the championship 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.
Before then, Oscar Piastri had been the fastest McLaren driver throughout the hour before the sprint shootout scheduled for 6:30 PM GMT.
Max Verstappen, the other racer in the points battle, lying with a 36-point deficit behind Norris, finished in 17th place as his team ran a different programme.
His teammate the Japanese driver was the only driver to crash, though minor, when he spun at the fourth corner during the early running.
The Japanese spun out over the track edges before sliding over the run-off area, and was fortunate to get away with just a minor contact of the barrier.
The Ferrari of Lewis Hamilton also had a spin, at the very end of the practice, rotating twice through the quick descending Mergulho turn before the final bend on to the main straight.
The veteran wrapped up in 19th place, trailing teammate the Monegasque driver.
The McLaren drivers were far ahead of the rest of the field, with Nico Hulkenberg's Sauber third fastest, 0.619 seconds behind Piastri's pace.
Aston Martin's the Spanish driver was in fourth, with Sauber's Gabriel Bortoleto in front of Mercedes' Russell and Alpine's Pierre Gasly and Williams' Carlos Sainz.
