Lando Norris Leads Piastri in Brazilian Practice Session
Lando Norris has outscored Oscar Piastri at all of the past five race weekends.
The McLaren driver narrowly beat fellow driver and championship contender the Australian for the top spot in the closing stages of practice at the Sao Paulo Grand Prix.
The British racer, who seized the title advantage from his teammate by just one point after taking the win in the Mexican Grand Prix a fortnight back, outpaced the Melbourne-born driver by 0.023 seconds.
Earlier in the session, Piastri had been the quickest of the McLaren pair for most of the session before sprint qualifying set to begin at the evening session.
The Red Bull star, the only other driver in the points battle, lying 36 points behind Norris, finished in P17 as his Red Bull team followed a unique setup.
His teammate the Japanese driver was the only driver to have an incident, albeit lightly, when he lost control at corner four soon after starting.
The Japanese lost control over the curbs on exit before sliding over the escape zone, and was fortunate to avoid just a light touch of the wall.
The Ferrari of the seven-time champion also had a spin, at the very end of the practice, rotating twice through the fast downhill Mergulho turn leading to the last turn on to the pit straight.
The seven-time champion finished practice in 19th, one place behind team-mate the Monegasque driver.
Norris and Piastri were well clear of the remaining drivers, with the German's car third fastest, 0.619secs behind Piastri's pace.
The Aston Martin of Fernando Alonso was fourth fastest, with the Sauber of Gabriel Bortoleto in front of Mercedes' George Russell and Alpine's Pierre Gasly and Williams' Carlos Sainz.
