Lando Norris Edges Out Oscar Piastri in Sao Paulo Practice
The British driver has beaten Oscar Piastri at each of the previous five race weekends.
Lando Norris edged out fellow driver and championship contender Oscar Piastri for the quickest lap in the closing stages of the practice session at the Sao Paulo Grand Prix.
Norris, who grabbed the title advantage from Piastri by just one point after his victory in the Mexican Grand Prix two weeks ago, outpaced the Australian by a tiny margin of 0.023secs.
Earlier in the session, Piastri had been the quickest of the McLaren pair throughout the hour before the sprint shootout due at the evening session.
Max Verstappen, the only other driver in the points battle, trailing with a 36-point deficit Norris, was classified in P17 as his Red Bull team followed a unique setup.
Verstappen's team-mate Yuki Tsunoda was the only driver to have an incident, though minor, when he lost control at the fourth corner soon after starting.
The Japanese slid over the exit kerbs before rotating through the run-off area, and was fortunate to get away with just a slight brush of the wall.
Ferrari's Lewis Hamilton also spun, at the very end of the session, rotating twice through the quick descending Mergulho corner approaching the final bend on to the main straight.
The seven-time champion wrapped up in 19th place, just behind team-mate Charles Leclerc.
The McLaren drivers were significantly quicker of the remaining drivers, with the German's car third fastest, over half a second off Piastri's pace.
Aston Martin's the Spanish driver was in fourth, with Sauber's Bortoleto ahead of the Mercedes of Russell and the Alpine of Pierre Gasly and Williams' Carlos Sainz.
