Norris Leads Oscar Piastri in Sao Paulo Practice Session
The British driver has outscored his teammate at each of the last five grands prix.
Lando Norris just pipped fellow driver and title rival Oscar Piastri for the fastest time in the dying seconds of the practice session at the Brazilian Grand Prix.
The British racer, who took the points lead from Piastri by a single point after his victory in Mexico City a fortnight back, beat the Australian by a tiny margin of 0.023secs.
Earlier in the session, Piastri had been the fastest McLaren driver during the running before sprint qualifying due at the evening session.
The Red Bull star, the other racer in realistic title contention, sitting 36 points behind Norris, ended up in P17 as his team ran a unique setup.
His teammate the Japanese driver was the sole competitor to have an incident, though minor, when he lost control at the fourth corner soon after starting.
The Japanese spun out over the track edges before spinning across the escape zone, and was fortunate to escape with just a minor contact of the fence.
Ferrari's Lewis Hamilton also lost it, at the final moments of the session, turning around through the fast downhill Mergulho corner leading to the final bend on to the start-finish straight.
Hamilton finished practice in P19, trailing team-mate Charles Leclerc.
The McLaren pair were well clear of the remaining drivers, with Nico Hulkenberg's car in third, over half a second slower than Piastri's best.
The Aston Martin of the Spanish driver was fourth fastest, with Sauber's Bortoleto in front of the Mercedes of Russell and the Alpine of Pierre Gasly and Williams' Sainz.
