Lando Norris Leads Oscar Piastri in Sao Paulo Practice Session
Lando Norris has beaten Oscar Piastri at all of the previous five race weekends.
The McLaren driver just pipped fellow driver and title rival Oscar Piastri for the fastest time in the closing stages of practice at the Sao Paulo Grand Prix.
Norris, who grabbed the title advantage from his teammate by just one point after winning in the Mexican Grand Prix two weeks ago, beat the Melbourne-born driver by a tiny margin of 0.023secs.
Until that point, Oscar Piastri had been the leading McLaren during the running before sprint qualifying set to begin at 18:30 GMT.
Max Verstappen, the only other driver in the championship fight, lying 36 points Norris, finished in P17 as his team followed a alternative strategy.
Verstappen's team-mate Yuki Tsunoda was the only driver to crash, though minor, when he spun at the fourth corner soon after starting.
The Japanese slid over the exit kerbs before spinning across the gravel trap, and was blessed to escape with just a slight brush of the wall.
Ferrari's Lewis Hamilton also lost it, at the conclusion of the session, spinning around through the quick descending corner approaching the final bend on to the pit straight.
Hamilton ended the session in P19, one place behind teammate the Monegasque driver.
The McLaren drivers were far ahead of the remaining drivers, with Nico Hulkenberg's Sauber in third, over half a second slower than Piastri's best.
Aston Martin's Fernando Alonso was fourth fastest, with Sauber's Gabriel Bortoleto in front of the Mercedes of George Russell and the Alpine of Gasly and Williams' Sainz.
