Lando Norris Edges Out Piastri in Sao Paulo Practice Session
The British driver has outperformed his teammate at all of the past five race weekends.
The McLaren driver just pipped fellow driver and title rival the Australian for the fastest time in the closing stages of practice at the Sao Paulo Grand Prix.
The British racer, who took the points lead from his teammate by just one point after his victory in the Mexican Grand Prix a fortnight back, topped the Australian by 0.023 seconds.
Until that point, Piastri had been the leading McLaren throughout the hour before the sprint shootout due at 6:30 PM GMT.
Max Verstappen, the only other driver in realistic title contention, sitting 36 points behind Norris, ended up in 17th position as his team opted for a alternative strategy.
His teammate Yuki Tsunoda was the only driver to go off, albeit lightly, when he spun at the fourth corner during the early running.
The Japanese lost control over the curbs on exit before spinning across the run-off area, and was blessed to get away with just a light touch of the wall.
Ferrari's Lewis Hamilton also spun, at the very end of the session, rotating twice through the quick descending Mergulho corner before the final corner on to the pit straight.
The seven-time champion wrapped up in 19th place, just behind teammate Charles Leclerc.
Norris and Piastri were far ahead of the other competitors, with the German's car third fastest, 0.619 seconds off Piastri's best.
The Aston Martin of the Spanish driver was fourth fastest, with Sauber's Bortoleto in front of the Mercedes of George Russell and the Alpine of Gasly and Williams' Sainz.
