Norris Leads Piastri in Brazilian Practice
The British driver has outscored Oscar Piastri at each of the previous five race weekends.
Lando Norris just pipped team-mate and title rival Oscar Piastri for the top spot in the closing stages of practice at the Sao Paulo Grand Prix.
The British racer, who seized the points lead from his teammate by one point after winning in Mexico City a fortnight back, outpaced the Melbourne-born driver by a tiny margin of 0.023secs.
Until that point, Oscar Piastri had been the fastest McLaren driver for most of the session before the sprint shootout due at 6:30 PM GMT.
The Red Bull star, the sole remaining contender in realistic title contention, lying with a 36-point deficit Norris, finished in 17th place as his Red Bull team opted for a alternative strategy.
His teammate Yuki Tsunoda was the sole competitor to have an incident, if briefly, when he spun at Turn Four during the early running.
Tsunoda spun out over the exit kerbs before rotating through the gravel trap, and was fortunate to escape with just a light touch of the barrier.
Ferrari's Lewis Hamilton also had a spin, at the very end of the session, turning around through the high-speed Mergulho turn before the last turn on to the start-finish straight.
Hamilton ended the session in 19th place, trailing team-mate Charles Leclerc.
The McLaren drivers were far ahead of the rest of the field, with Nico Hulkenberg's car third fastest, over half a second behind Piastri's best.
Aston Martin's Fernando Alonso was fourth fastest, with Sauber's Gabriel Bortoleto ahead of Mercedes' Russell and Alpine's Pierre Gasly and Williams' Carlos Sainz.
