Lando Norris Edges Out Oscar Piastri in Sao Paulo Practice
The British driver has outperformed his teammate at all of the last five grands prix.
The McLaren driver narrowly beat fellow driver and championship contender Oscar Piastri for the top spot in the closing stages of practice at the Sao Paulo Grand Prix.
The British racer, who grabbed the title advantage from Piastri by one point after winning in the Mexican Grand Prix two weeks ago, beat the Australian by 0.023 seconds.
Earlier in the session, Oscar Piastri had been the fastest McLaren driver throughout the hour before the sprint shootout scheduled for 6:30 PM GMT.
Max Verstappen, the sole remaining contender in realistic title contention, sitting with a 36-point deficit Norris, ended up in 17th place as his team ran a different programme.
His teammate the Japanese driver was the sole competitor to crash, albeit lightly, when he rotated at the fourth corner soon after starting.
The Japanese lost control over the track edges before sliding over the run-off area, and was fortunate to escape with just a minor contact of the wall.
The Ferrari of Lewis Hamilton also had a spin, at the very end of the practice, rotating twice through the fast downhill Mergulho corner before the final bend on to the start-finish straight.
The seven-time champion ended the session in 19th place, just behind team-mate the Monegasque driver.
The McLaren pair were well clear of the remaining drivers, with Nico Hulkenberg's car in third, 0.619secs slower than Piastri's best.
Aston Martin's the Spanish driver was in fourth, with Sauber's Gabriel Bortoleto ahead of the Mercedes of George Russell and Alpine's Pierre Gasly and the Williams of Sainz.
