Norris Leads Oscar Piastri in Brazilian Practice Session
Lando Norris has outperformed Oscar Piastri at each of the previous five grands prix.
The McLaren driver just pipped fellow driver and title rival 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 championship lead from his teammate by just one point after his victory in the Mexican Grand Prix a fortnight back, topped the Melbourne-born driver by a tiny margin of 0.023secs.
Before then, Piastri had been the quickest of the McLaren pair during the running before the sprint shootout set to begin at the evening session.
Max Verstappen, the other racer in realistic title contention, lying 36 points behind Norris, finished in 17th place as his team ran a different programme.
Verstappen's team-mate Yuki Tsunoda was the sole competitor to go off, though minor, when he spun at the fourth corner during the early running.
Tsunoda spun out over the track edges before rotating through the run-off area, and was blessed to escape with just a minor contact of the barrier.
The Ferrari of the seven-time champion also had a spin, at the final moments of the session, rotating twice through the fast downhill Mergulho corner before the final bend on to the main straight.
The veteran finished practice in 19th, one place behind teammate Charles Leclerc.
The McLaren pair were well clear of the rest of the field, with Nico Hulkenberg's Sauber third fastest, 0.619secs off Piastri's pace.
Aston Martin's the Spanish driver was fourth fastest, with the Sauber of Gabriel Bortoleto ahead of the Mercedes of George Russell and the Alpine of Gasly and the Williams of Carlos Sainz.
