Norris Edges Out Oscar Piastri in Brazilian Practice Session
The British driver has beaten his teammate at all of the last five grands prix.
Lando Norris just pipped team-mate and championship contender Oscar Piastri for the quickest lap in the dying seconds of the practice session at the Brazilian Grand Prix.
The British racer, who grabbed the points lead from his teammate by just one point after taking the win in Mexico City a fortnight back, outpaced the Melbourne-born driver by a mere 0.023s.
Before then, Oscar Piastri had been the fastest McLaren driver during the running before the sprint shootout due at 18:30 GMT.
Max Verstappen, the sole remaining contender in the points battle, trailing 36 points behind Norris, ended up in 17th place as his team ran a unique setup.
His teammate Yuki Tsunoda was the sole competitor to have an incident, albeit lightly, when he spun at Turn Four early in the session.
The Japanese lost control over the curbs on exit before spinning across the run-off area, and was fortunate to escape with just a light touch of the barrier.
Ferrari's the seven-time champion also lost it, at the final moments of the session, rotating twice through the high-speed Mergulho turn leading to the last turn on to the pit straight.
The veteran wrapped up in 19th, just behind team-mate Charles Leclerc.
Norris and Piastri were significantly quicker of the rest of the field, with the German's car in third, over half a second slower than Piastri's pace.
Aston Martin's the Spanish driver was fourth quickest, with the Sauber of Gabriel Bortoleto ahead of the Mercedes of Russell and Alpine's Gasly and Williams' Carlos Sainz.
