Lando Norris Leads Piastri in Sao Paulo Practice Session
Lando Norris has outscored Oscar Piastri at each of the previous five grands prix.
Lando Norris narrowly beat team-mate and title rival the Australian for the quickest lap in the final moments of practice at the Brazilian Grand Prix.
Norris, who grabbed the points lead from his teammate by one point after his victory in Mexico City recently, outpaced the Australian by a mere 0.023s.
Before then, Oscar Piastri had been the quickest of the McLaren pair for most of the session before the sprint shootout set to begin at 18:30 GMT.
Max Verstappen, the only other driver in the championship fight, trailing 36 points behind behind Norris, ended up in 17th position as his team ran a alternative strategy.
Verstappen's team-mate Yuki Tsunoda was the sole competitor to crash, albeit lightly, when he spun at corner four early in the session.
Tsunoda spun out over the exit kerbs before spinning across the escape zone, and was blessed to avoid just a light touch of the barrier.
Ferrari's Lewis Hamilton also lost it, at the final moments of the practice, rotating twice through the quick descending corner leading to the final corner on to the pit straight.
The veteran finished practice in 19th, trailing teammate the Monegasque driver.
Norris and Piastri were significantly quicker of the rest of the field, with the German's Sauber P3, 0.619 seconds behind Piastri's pace.
The Aston Martin of Fernando Alonso was fourth quickest, with Sauber's Bortoleto ahead of the Mercedes of George Russell and Alpine's Gasly and Williams' Sainz.
