Lando Norris Edges Out Piastri in Brazilian Practice Session
The British driver has outscored Oscar Piastri at each of the last five grands prix.
The McLaren driver edged out fellow driver and championship contender the Australian for the fastest time in the closing stages of practice at the Brazilian Grand Prix.
Norris, who seized the title advantage from Piastri by one point after his victory in Mexico City two weeks ago, outpaced the Melbourne-born driver by a tiny margin of 0.023secs.
Before then, Oscar Piastri had been the leading McLaren during the running before sprint qualifying scheduled for 6:30 PM GMT.
Max Verstappen, the sole remaining contender in realistic title contention, lying 36 points behind Norris, was classified in 17th place as his Red Bull team followed a different programme.
Verstappen's team-mate Yuki Tsunoda was the sole competitor to have an incident, though minor, when he rotated at corner four soon after starting.
The Japanese slid over the exit kerbs before spinning across the escape zone, and was fortunate to escape with just a light touch of the wall.
The Ferrari of the seven-time champion also spun, at the very end of the practice, spinning around through the quick descending Mergulho corner before the last turn on to the start-finish straight.
The seven-time champion ended the session in P19, just behind teammate the Monegasque driver.
Norris and Piastri were far ahead of the remaining drivers, with the German's car P3, 0.619secs slower than the Australian's time.
The Aston Martin of Fernando Alonso was fourth quickest, with the Sauber of Bortoleto ahead of Mercedes' George Russell and Alpine's Pierre Gasly and Williams' Sainz.
