Lando Norris Leads Piastri in Brazilian Practice
Lando Norris has outscored his teammate at each of the last five race weekends.
The McLaren driver just pipped fellow driver and title rival Oscar Piastri for the quickest lap in the final moments of practice at the Brazilian Grand Prix.
Norris, who took the title advantage from Piastri by one point after winning in the Mexican Grand Prix two weeks ago, outpaced the Melbourne-born driver by 0.023 seconds.
Earlier in the session, Oscar Piastri had been the quickest of the McLaren pair for most of the session before the sprint shootout scheduled for the evening session.
Max Verstappen, the only other driver in the points battle, lying with a 36-point deficit Norris, ended up in P17 as his team ran a alternative strategy.
His teammate Yuki Tsunoda was the sole competitor to crash, albeit lightly, when he lost control at corner four early in the session.
Tsunoda slid over the curbs on exit before spinning across the gravel trap, and was blessed to escape with just a minor contact of the wall.
The Ferrari of Lewis Hamilton also had a spin, at the final moments of the practice, rotating twice through the quick descending Mergulho turn approaching the final corner on to the pit straight.
The seven-time champion finished practice in 19th, one place behind team-mate Charles Leclerc.
Norris and Piastri were well clear of the other competitors, with Nico Hulkenberg's Sauber in third, 0.619 seconds off Piastri's pace.
The Aston Martin of Fernando Alonso was in fourth, with Sauber's Gabriel Bortoleto in front of Mercedes' George Russell and Alpine's Pierre Gasly and the Williams of Sainz.