Lando Norris Tops Piastri in Sao Paulo Practice Session
Lando Norris has outperformed his teammate at all of the last five grands prix.
The McLaren driver just pipped fellow driver and title rival the Australian for the quickest lap in the final moments of practice at the Brazilian Grand Prix.
The British racer, who grabbed the championship lead from Piastri by a single point after taking the win in Mexico City two weeks ago, beat the Australian by a mere 0.023s.
Before then, Piastri had been the fastest McLaren driver throughout the hour before sprint qualifying due at 18:30 GMT.
Max Verstappen, the other racer in realistic title contention, trailing 36 points Norris, ended up in P17 as his team opted for a alternative strategy.
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 track edges before sliding over the run-off area, and was fortunate to escape with just a minor contact of the wall.
The Ferrari of the seven-time champion also lost it, at the final moments of the practice, spinning around through the high-speed Mergulho turn before the final bend on to the start-finish straight.
The veteran wrapped up in 19th, one place behind teammate the Monegasque driver.
Norris and Piastri were well clear of the rest of the field, with Nico Hulkenberg's car in third, 0.619secs slower than Piastri's pace.
The Aston Martin of Fernando Alonso was in fourth, with Sauber's Bortoleto in front of the Mercedes of George Russell and the Alpine of Pierre Gasly and the Williams of Sainz.
