Norris Tops Piastri in Sao Paulo Practice Session
The British driver has outperformed his teammate at each of the past five race weekends.
Lando Norris just pipped fellow driver and title rival the Australian for the quickest lap in the dying seconds of the practice session at the Sao Paulo Grand Prix.
Norris, who seized the title advantage from his teammate by a single point after taking the win in Mexico City recently, outpaced the Melbourne-born driver by a tiny margin of 0.023secs.
Until that point, Piastri had been the leading McLaren during the running before the sprint shootout scheduled for 6:30 PM GMT.
Max Verstappen, the only other driver in realistic title contention, lying with a 36-point deficit behind Norris, ended up in 17th place as his Red Bull team ran a unique setup.
Verstappen's team-mate the Japanese driver was the sole competitor to go off, though minor, when he lost control at the fourth corner during the early running.
Tsunoda spun out over the exit kerbs before sliding over the gravel trap, and was fortunate to get away with just a minor contact of the wall.
Ferrari's the seven-time champion also lost it, at the very end of the practice, spinning around through the fast downhill Mergulho turn approaching the final bend on to the start-finish straight.
The veteran ended the session in 19th place, one place behind teammate Charles Leclerc.
The McLaren drivers were significantly quicker of the other competitors, with the German's car in third, over half a second off Piastri's pace.
The Aston Martin of Fernando Alonso was fourth fastest, with Sauber's Bortoleto in front of the Mercedes of Russell and the Alpine of Pierre Gasly and the Williams of Carlos Sainz.
