Norris Leads Oscar Piastri in Sao Paulo Practice Session
The British driver has beaten his teammate at each of the last five grands prix.
Lando Norris edged out team-mate and championship contender Oscar Piastri for the quickest lap in the dying seconds of practice at the Brazilian Grand Prix.
The British racer, who took the points lead from his teammate by a single point after taking the win in the Mexican Grand Prix two weeks ago, topped the Melbourne-born driver by 0.023 seconds.
Until that point, Oscar Piastri had been the leading McLaren during the running before sprint qualifying due at 6:30 PM GMT.
Max Verstappen, the other racer in realistic title contention, sitting with a 36-point deficit behind Norris, finished in 17th place as his team opted for a alternative strategy.
Verstappen's team-mate Yuki Tsunoda was the sole competitor to crash, albeit lightly, when he rotated at Turn Four early in the session.
The Japanese slid over the exit kerbs before sliding over the gravel trap, and was fortunate to escape with just a slight brush of the fence.
The Ferrari of Lewis Hamilton also spun, at the final moments of the practice, rotating twice through the high-speed Mergulho turn before the final corner on to the start-finish straight.
The veteran ended the session in P19, just behind teammate the Monegasque driver.
The McLaren pair were significantly quicker of the rest of the field, with the German's Sauber in third, 0.619 seconds slower than Piastri's pace.
The Aston Martin of the Spanish driver was fourth fastest, with Sauber's Bortoleto fifth from the Mercedes of Russell and Alpine's Gasly and Williams' Carlos Sainz.