Norris Edges Out Piastri in Brazilian Practice
The British driver has beaten Oscar Piastri at all of the last five grands prix.
Lando Norris just pipped fellow driver and championship contender Oscar Piastri for the top spot in the final moments of practice at the Sao Paulo Grand Prix.
Norris, who took the points lead from his teammate by one point after his victory in Mexico City recently, beat the Australian by a mere 0.023s.
Before then, Piastri had been the quickest of the McLaren pair during the running before the sprint shootout due at 18:30 GMT.
Max Verstappen, the other racer in the championship fight, trailing with a 36-point deficit behind Norris, ended up in 17th position as his team opted for a different programme.
Verstappen's team-mate Yuki Tsunoda was the sole competitor to crash, if briefly, when he spun at corner four early in the session.
The Japanese slid over the exit kerbs before spinning across the gravel trap, and was blessed to escape with just a slight brush of the fence.
The Ferrari of the seven-time champion also lost it, at the very end of the session, rotating twice through the high-speed Mergulho corner approaching the final corner on to the start-finish straight.
The seven-time champion finished practice in 19th, trailing team-mate the Monegasque driver.
Norris and Piastri were significantly quicker of the other competitors, with the German's Sauber in third, 0.619secs slower than the Australian's time.
Aston Martin's the Spanish driver was fourth quickest, with the Sauber of Bortoleto fifth from the Mercedes of George Russell and the Alpine of Gasly and Williams' Carlos Sainz.
