Lando Norris Tops Piastri in Sao Paulo Practice Session
Lando Norris has beaten his teammate at each of the past five grands prix.
The McLaren driver edged out fellow driver and title rival Oscar Piastri for the top spot in the closing stages of practice at the Sao Paulo Grand Prix.
Norris, who grabbed the points lead from Piastri by one point after taking the win in Mexico City a fortnight back, beat the Australian by a tiny margin of 0.023secs.
Before then, Oscar Piastri had been the leading McLaren during the running before the sprint shootout due at 6:30 PM GMT.
Max Verstappen, the sole remaining contender in the championship fight, trailing 36 points behind Norris, ended up in P17 as his Red Bull team ran a unique setup.
Verstappen's team-mate the Japanese driver was the only driver to crash, though minor, when he spun at Turn Four soon after starting.
The Japanese lost control over the track edges before rotating through the run-off area, and was lucky to avoid just a minor contact of the wall.
Ferrari's Lewis Hamilton also lost it, at the very end of the session, rotating twice through the quick descending Mergulho turn approaching the last turn on to the start-finish straight.
Hamilton wrapped up in 19th, trailing team-mate the Monegasque driver.
The McLaren drivers were well clear of the other competitors, with Nico Hulkenberg's car in third, 0.619secs slower than Piastri's pace.
Aston Martin's Fernando Alonso was fourth quickest, with the Sauber of Gabriel Bortoleto in front of Mercedes' George Russell and Alpine's Gasly and Williams' Carlos Sainz.
