Lando Norris Leads Piastri in Sao Paulo Practice
The British driver has outperformed Oscar Piastri at each of the last five grands prix.
The McLaren driver edged out team-mate and championship contender the Australian for the fastest time in the final moments of practice at the Brazilian Grand Prix.
The British racer, who took the title advantage from his teammate by a single point after taking the win in the Mexican Grand Prix recently, topped the Australian by a mere 0.023s.
Until that point, Oscar Piastri had been the quickest of the McLaren pair for most of the session before sprint qualifying scheduled for the evening session.
The Red Bull star, the sole remaining contender in the championship fight, lying with a 36-point deficit behind Norris, ended up in P17 as his Red Bull team opted for a unique setup.
His teammate the Japanese driver was the sole competitor to go off, albeit lightly, when he spun at the fourth corner during the early running.
The Japanese lost control over the curbs on exit before rotating through the escape zone, and was fortunate to escape with just a minor contact of the fence.
Ferrari's the seven-time champion also had a spin, at the very end of the session, spinning around through the fast downhill Mergulho corner approaching the final corner on to the start-finish straight.
The seven-time champion finished practice in 19th place, trailing teammate Charles Leclerc.
Norris and Piastri were far ahead of the other competitors, with Nico Hulkenberg's Sauber in third, 0.619 seconds off the Australian's time.
Aston Martin's Fernando Alonso was in fourth, with the Sauber of Bortoleto in front of Mercedes' Russell and the Alpine of Pierre Gasly and the Williams of Carlos Sainz.
