Norris Tops Piastri in Sao Paulo Practice
The British driver has beaten Oscar Piastri at all of the previous five race weekends.
Lando Norris just pipped fellow driver and championship contender the Australian for the fastest time in the final moments of the practice session at the Brazilian Grand Prix.
Norris, who took the points lead from Piastri by just one point after winning in Mexico City two weeks ago, beat the Australian by a mere 0.023s.
Before then, Piastri had been the fastest McLaren driver throughout the hour before sprint qualifying scheduled for 6:30 PM GMT.
Max Verstappen, the sole remaining contender in the points battle, sitting 36 points behind behind Norris, was classified in P17 as his Red Bull team followed a unique setup.
His teammate Yuki Tsunoda was the only driver to crash, though minor, when he spun at Turn Four early in the session.
The Japanese lost control over the curbs on exit before rotating through the escape zone, and was lucky to get away with just a slight brush of the barrier.
Ferrari's Lewis Hamilton also had a spin, at the very end of the practice, turning around through the quick descending corner approaching the last turn on to the start-finish straight.
Hamilton finished practice in P19, trailing teammate Charles Leclerc.
The McLaren drivers were far ahead of the other competitors, with Nico Hulkenberg's car in third, 0.619 seconds slower than Piastri's best.
The Aston Martin of Fernando Alonso was fourth quickest, with the Sauber of Gabriel Bortoleto ahead of Mercedes' George Russell and the Alpine of Gasly and the Williams of Sainz.
