Norris Leads Piastri in Brazilian Practice
The British driver has outperformed Oscar Piastri at each of the last five grands prix.
Lando Norris narrowly beat fellow driver and championship contender the Australian for the top spot in the final moments of practice at the Sao Paulo Grand Prix.
The British racer, who took the points lead from his teammate by a single point after winning in Mexico City a fortnight back, topped the Australian by 0.023 seconds.
Until that point, Oscar Piastri had been the fastest McLaren driver during the running before the sprint shootout scheduled for 18:30 GMT.
Max Verstappen, the sole remaining contender in realistic title contention, sitting 36 points behind Norris, finished in P17 as his team opted for a unique setup.
Verstappen's team-mate Yuki Tsunoda was the only driver to have an incident, though minor, when he lost control at Turn Four early in the session.
Tsunoda spun out over the curbs on exit before sliding over the escape zone, and was lucky to avoid just a light touch of the barrier.
Ferrari's Lewis Hamilton also lost it, at the conclusion of the practice, spinning around through the quick descending Mergulho turn before the final bend on to the pit straight.
The veteran finished practice in 19th, one place behind teammate the Monegasque driver.
Norris and Piastri were well clear of the other competitors, with the German's Sauber in third, 0.619secs off the Australian's time.
Aston Martin's Fernando Alonso was in fourth, with Sauber's Gabriel Bortoleto ahead of Mercedes' Russell and the Alpine of Pierre Gasly and the Williams of Sainz.
