Norris Tops Oscar Piastri in Brazilian Practice Session
The British driver has outscored his teammate at each of the last five grands prix.
Lando Norris edged out fellow driver and championship contender the Australian for the fastest time in the dying seconds of the practice session at the Brazilian Grand Prix.
The British racer, who seized the points lead from Piastri by one point after winning in the Mexican Grand Prix a fortnight back, outpaced the Australian by a mere 0.023s.
Earlier in the session, Piastri had been the leading McLaren throughout the hour before sprint qualifying scheduled for the evening session.
The Red Bull star, the sole remaining contender in the points battle, lying 36 points Norris, finished in 17th position as his team ran a alternative strategy.
His teammate Yuki Tsunoda was the only driver to crash, albeit lightly, when he lost control at the fourth corner early in the session.
The Japanese spun out over the curbs on exit before rotating through the run-off area, and was blessed to get away with just a light touch of the fence.
The Ferrari of Lewis Hamilton also lost it, at the conclusion of the session, spinning around through the fast downhill Mergulho turn leading to the last turn on to the pit straight.
The veteran ended the session in 19th place, one place behind team-mate the Monegasque driver.
Norris and Piastri were significantly quicker of the other competitors, with the German's car P3, 0.619 seconds slower than Piastri's best.
The Aston Martin of the Spanish driver was in fourth, with Sauber's Gabriel Bortoleto fifth from Mercedes' George Russell and Alpine's Gasly and Williams' Carlos Sainz.
