Lando Norris Leads Piastri in Brazilian Practice Session
Lando Norris has beaten Oscar Piastri at each of the past five race weekends.
The McLaren driver edged out team-mate and championship contender Oscar Piastri for the fastest time in the dying seconds of practice at the Brazilian Grand Prix.
Norris, who seized the points lead from his teammate by one point after his victory in the Mexican Grand Prix a fortnight back, beat the Australian by 0.023 seconds.
Until that point, Piastri had been the quickest of the McLaren pair during the running before the sprint shootout scheduled for the evening session.
Max Verstappen, the other racer in the championship fight, sitting with a 36-point deficit Norris, finished in 17th place as his Red Bull team followed a alternative strategy.
Verstappen's team-mate the Japanese driver was the sole competitor to have an incident, though minor, when he spun at the fourth corner during the early running.
The Japanese lost control over the track edges before spinning across the run-off area, and was lucky to escape with just a light touch of the fence.
The Ferrari of the seven-time champion also lost it, at the final moments of the session, rotating twice through the high-speed Mergulho turn before the final bend on to the pit straight.
The seven-time champion wrapped up in 19th, one place behind teammate the Monegasque driver.
Norris and Piastri were well clear of the other competitors, with the German's Sauber in third, 0.619 seconds behind Piastri's best.
Aston Martin's Fernando Alonso was fourth fastest, with the Sauber of Gabriel Bortoleto fifth from Mercedes' George Russell and Alpine's Pierre Gasly and Williams' Sainz.
