Lando Norris Edges Out Oscar Piastri in Sao Paulo Practice
The British driver has outperformed his teammate at each of the previous five grands prix.
The McLaren driver edged out team-mate and championship contender the Australian for the quickest lap in the closing stages of practice at the Brazilian Grand Prix.
The British racer, who took the championship lead from his teammate by a single point after his victory in Mexico City a fortnight back, topped the Melbourne-born driver by a tiny margin of 0.023secs.
Before then, Oscar Piastri had been the leading McLaren during the running before the sprint shootout scheduled for the evening session.
Max Verstappen, the sole remaining contender in the points battle, lying with a 36-point deficit behind Norris, ended up in 17th place as his Red Bull team ran a alternative strategy.
Verstappen's team-mate the Japanese driver was the sole competitor to crash, if briefly, when he rotated at the fourth corner soon after starting.
The Japanese lost control over the track edges before spinning across the gravel trap, and was lucky to get away with just a slight brush of the fence.
Ferrari's Lewis Hamilton also had a spin, at the conclusion of the session, rotating twice through the quick descending corner before the last turn on to the main straight.
Hamilton finished practice in P19, trailing teammate Charles Leclerc.
The McLaren pair were far ahead of the remaining drivers, with the German's car in third, over half a second behind the Australian's time.
Aston Martin's the Spanish driver was fourth quickest, with Sauber's Bortoleto in front of the Mercedes of Russell and the Alpine of Pierre Gasly and Williams' Sainz.
