Lando Norris Tops Piastri in Brazilian Practice
The British driver has beaten Oscar Piastri at each of the previous five race weekends.
The McLaren driver just pipped team-mate and title rival the Australian for the top spot in the final moments of the practice session at the Sao Paulo Grand Prix.
Norris, who took the points lead from Piastri by a single point after his victory in Mexico City two weeks ago, outpaced the Melbourne-born driver by 0.023 seconds.
Before then, Piastri had been the leading McLaren throughout the hour before the sprint shootout due at the evening session.
Max Verstappen, the only other driver in realistic title contention, sitting with a 36-point deficit behind Norris, finished in 17th position as his Red Bull team ran a different programme.
His teammate Yuki Tsunoda was the sole competitor to have an incident, though minor, when he rotated at Turn Four during the early running.
Tsunoda lost control over the exit kerbs before rotating through the escape zone, and was fortunate to escape with just a slight brush of the wall.
The Ferrari of the seven-time champion also lost it, at the very end of the session, spinning around through the fast downhill corner approaching the final bend on to the pit straight.
The veteran wrapped up in 19th, trailing teammate the Monegasque driver.
Norris and Piastri were far ahead of the other competitors, with Nico Hulkenberg's car third fastest, 0.619 seconds off Piastri's best.
Aston Martin's Fernando Alonso was fourth quickest, with Sauber's Gabriel Bortoleto in front of the Mercedes of Russell and Alpine's Pierre Gasly and the Williams of Sainz.
