Lando Norris Leads Piastri in Brazilian Practice Session
Lando Norris has outperformed Oscar Piastri at each of the previous five grands prix.
The McLaren driver just pipped team-mate and title rival the Australian for the top spot in the closing stages of practice at the Brazilian 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 two weeks ago, topped the Melbourne-born driver by 0.023 seconds.
Earlier in the session, Oscar Piastri had been the quickest of the McLaren pair throughout the hour before sprint qualifying scheduled for 6:30 PM GMT.
Max Verstappen, the sole remaining contender in the championship fight, sitting with a 36-point deficit behind Norris, was classified in 17th position as his Red Bull team opted for a different programme.
His teammate Yuki Tsunoda was the sole competitor to crash, albeit lightly, when he rotated at corner four during the early running.
Tsunoda lost control over the curbs on exit before sliding over the escape zone, and was lucky to escape with just a slight brush of the fence.
Ferrari's Lewis Hamilton also spun, at the final moments of the practice, spinning around through the high-speed Mergulho turn approaching the final corner on to the start-finish straight.
The seven-time champion wrapped up in P19, trailing team-mate the Monegasque driver.
Norris and Piastri were well clear of the other competitors, with Nico Hulkenberg's car in third, 0.619secs behind the Australian's time.
The Aston Martin of Fernando Alonso was fourth quickest, with Sauber's Bortoleto fifth from the Mercedes of Russell and Alpine's Gasly and Williams' Sainz.
