Lando Norris Tops Oscar Piastri in Sao Paulo Practice Session
Lando Norris has outperformed his teammate at each of the past five grands prix.
The McLaren driver narrowly beat team-mate and title rival the Australian for the quickest lap in the final moments of the practice session at the Sao Paulo Grand Prix.
The British racer, who took the points lead from his teammate by one point after winning in the Mexican Grand Prix recently, beat the Melbourne-born driver by a mere 0.023s.
Until that point, Oscar Piastri had been the fastest McLaren driver during the running before sprint qualifying set to begin at 6:30 PM GMT.
Max Verstappen, the other racer in the championship fight, lying with a 36-point deficit behind Norris, ended up in 17th position as his Red Bull team ran a alternative strategy.
His teammate Yuki Tsunoda was the only driver to go off, though minor, when he lost control at the fourth corner soon after starting.
The Japanese spun out over the exit kerbs before spinning across the gravel trap, and was fortunate to escape with just a slight brush of the wall.
Ferrari's the seven-time champion also lost it, at the very end of the session, turning around through the fast downhill Mergulho corner approaching the final bend on to the pit straight.
The seven-time champion ended the session in 19th, trailing teammate the Monegasque driver.
Norris and Piastri were significantly quicker of the other competitors, with Nico Hulkenberg's Sauber in third, 0.619 seconds behind Piastri's pace.
Aston Martin's the Spanish driver was fourth fastest, with the Sauber of Gabriel Bortoleto in front of the Mercedes of George Russell and the Alpine of Pierre Gasly and the Williams of Sainz.