Lando Norris Tops Oscar Piastri in Brazilian Practice Session
The British driver has outperformed his teammate at each of the previous five race weekends.
The McLaren driver just pipped fellow driver and championship contender the Australian for the fastest time in the closing stages of the practice session at the Brazilian Grand Prix.
The British racer, who seized the championship lead from Piastri by one point after his victory in the Mexican Grand Prix recently, topped the Australian by a mere 0.023s.
Before then, Piastri had been the leading McLaren for most of the session before the sprint shootout scheduled for 6:30 PM GMT.
Max Verstappen, the only other driver in the championship fight, lying 36 points Norris, finished in 17th place as his Red Bull team followed a alternative strategy.
His teammate Yuki Tsunoda was the only driver to crash, if briefly, when he spun at Turn Four early in the session.
Tsunoda lost control over the exit kerbs before rotating through the run-off area, and was lucky to get away with just a light touch of the barrier.
Ferrari's the seven-time champion also had a spin, at the final moments of the practice, turning around through the high-speed corner approaching the final corner on to the start-finish straight.
The seven-time champion ended the session in 19th, one place behind teammate Charles Leclerc.
Norris and Piastri were well clear of the rest of the field, with Nico Hulkenberg's Sauber in third, over half a second behind the Australian's time.
Aston Martin's the Spanish driver was in fourth, with the Sauber of Gabriel Bortoleto in front of Mercedes' Russell and the Alpine of Pierre Gasly and Williams' Sainz.
