Lando Norris Leads Piastri in Brazilian Practice
Lando Norris has outscored his teammate at each of the last five race weekends.
The McLaren driver just pipped team-mate and title rival Oscar Piastri for the top spot in the closing stages of the practice session at the Brazilian Grand Prix.
The British racer, who seized the championship lead from his teammate by a single point after taking the win in Mexico City two weeks ago, beat the Australian by a tiny margin of 0.023secs.
Until that point, Oscar Piastri had been the leading McLaren during the running before sprint qualifying scheduled for 6:30 PM GMT.
Max Verstappen, the other racer in the championship fight, trailing 36 points behind Norris, finished in P17 as his team opted for a unique setup.
Verstappen's team-mate Yuki Tsunoda was the sole competitor to go off, though minor, when he lost control at Turn Four during the early running.
Tsunoda lost control over the track edges before spinning across the run-off area, and was lucky to get away with just a minor contact of the wall.
Ferrari's the seven-time champion also spun, at the conclusion of the session, turning around through the high-speed Mergulho corner leading to the final corner on to the main straight.
The seven-time champion finished practice in P19, trailing teammate Charles Leclerc.
Norris and Piastri were well clear of the remaining drivers, with the German's Sauber P3, 0.619secs off Piastri's best.
The Aston Martin of the Spanish driver was fourth quickest, with the Sauber of Gabriel Bortoleto in front of the Mercedes of Russell and Alpine's Gasly and Williams' Carlos Sainz.