Norris Edges Out Oscar Piastri in Sao Paulo Practice Session
Lando Norris has beaten his teammate at all of the previous five grands prix.
Lando Norris edged out fellow driver and championship contender Oscar Piastri for the top spot in the final moments of the practice session at the Sao Paulo Grand Prix.
Norris, who seized the championship lead from Piastri by a single point after winning in Mexico City recently, outpaced the Australian by a mere 0.023s.
Before then, Piastri had been the fastest McLaren driver throughout the hour before sprint qualifying set to begin at 18:30 GMT.
Max Verstappen, the other racer in the points battle, lying 36 points behind behind Norris, finished in 17th position as his team ran a unique setup.
Verstappen's team-mate Yuki Tsunoda was the sole competitor to have an incident, albeit lightly, when he rotated at Turn Four early in the session.
Tsunoda slid over the curbs on exit before rotating through the gravel trap, and was lucky to escape with just a minor contact of the barrier.
Ferrari's Lewis Hamilton also spun, at the final moments of the practice, rotating twice through the quick descending Mergulho turn approaching the final corner on to the start-finish straight.
The veteran finished practice in 19th, trailing team-mate Charles Leclerc.
Norris and Piastri were significantly quicker of the rest of the field, with the German's car in third, 0.619 seconds slower than the Australian's time.
The Aston Martin of Fernando Alonso was fourth fastest, with the Sauber of Bortoleto fifth from the Mercedes of Russell and Alpine's Pierre Gasly and the Williams of Carlos Sainz.
