Norris Edges Out Piastri in Brazilian Practice Session
Lando Norris has beaten Oscar Piastri at each of the last five race weekends.
The McLaren driver narrowly beat team-mate and championship contender the Australian for the quickest lap in the dying seconds of the practice session at the Sao Paulo Grand Prix.
Norris, who grabbed the title advantage from Piastri by a single point after winning in Mexico City two weeks ago, beat the Melbourne-born driver by a tiny margin of 0.023secs.
Earlier in the session, Piastri had been the fastest McLaren driver during the running before sprint qualifying scheduled for 18:30 GMT.
The Red Bull star, the only other driver in realistic title contention, trailing with a 36-point deficit behind Norris, ended up in P17 as his team followed a unique setup.
His teammate Yuki Tsunoda was the only driver to crash, though minor, when he rotated at Turn Four soon after starting.
Tsunoda lost control over the track edges before rotating through the escape zone, and was blessed to escape with just a slight brush of the wall.
The Ferrari of Lewis Hamilton also lost it, at the final moments of the practice, rotating twice through the high-speed Mergulho corner before the final bend on to the main straight.
The seven-time champion finished practice in 19th place, trailing teammate the Monegasque driver.
The McLaren drivers were significantly quicker of the other competitors, with Nico Hulkenberg's car in third, 0.619 seconds behind Piastri's pace.
The Aston Martin of the Spanish driver was fourth quickest, with the Sauber of Bortoleto ahead of the Mercedes of George Russell and Alpine's Pierre Gasly and Williams' Sainz.
