Lando Norris Edges Out Oscar Piastri in Sao Paulo Practice Session
The British driver has outperformed Oscar Piastri at each of the previous five race weekends.
The McLaren driver just pipped team-mate and title rival Oscar Piastri for the fastest time in the dying seconds of practice at the Sao Paulo Grand Prix.
The British racer, who grabbed the points lead from Piastri by a single point after his victory in Mexico City two weeks ago, outpaced the Melbourne-born driver by a tiny margin of 0.023secs.
Until that point, Oscar Piastri had been the quickest of the McLaren pair during the running before the sprint shootout set to begin at 6:30 PM GMT.
Max Verstappen, the only other driver in the points battle, trailing 36 points behind Norris, finished in 17th place as his team followed a alternative strategy.
His teammate the Japanese driver was the sole competitor to crash, if briefly, when he lost control at the fourth corner soon after starting.
The Japanese lost control over the track edges before rotating through the gravel trap, and was fortunate to escape with just a minor contact of the barrier.
The Ferrari of the seven-time champion also spun, at the conclusion of the practice, turning around through the quick descending Mergulho corner before the last turn on to the start-finish straight.
The seven-time champion finished practice in 19th, just behind teammate the Monegasque driver.
The McLaren drivers were significantly quicker of the remaining drivers, with the German's Sauber in third, 0.619secs slower than Piastri's best.
Aston Martin's Fernando Alonso was in fourth, with the Sauber of Bortoleto ahead of Mercedes' Russell and Alpine's Gasly and Williams' Carlos Sainz.
