Lando Norris Tops Oscar Piastri in Brazilian Practice
The British driver has outperformed Oscar Piastri at each of the past five race weekends.
The McLaren driver edged out team-mate and championship contender the Australian for the quickest lap in the dying seconds of the practice session at the Brazilian Grand Prix.
The British racer, who took the points lead from Piastri by one point after his victory in Mexico City recently, outpaced the Australian by 0.023 seconds.
Before then, Piastri had been the leading McLaren during the running before the sprint shootout scheduled for 18:30 GMT.
The Red Bull star, the sole remaining contender in the points battle, trailing with a 36-point deficit behind Norris, ended up in 17th place as his team ran a unique setup.
His teammate Yuki Tsunoda was the only driver to crash, albeit lightly, when he rotated at Turn Four during the early running.
The Japanese lost control over the curbs on exit before rotating through the run-off area, and was blessed to avoid just a slight brush of the fence.
The Ferrari of the seven-time champion also had a spin, at the very end of the practice, rotating twice through the fast downhill Mergulho corner before the final bend on to the pit straight.
The veteran wrapped up in 19th, just behind teammate the Monegasque driver.
Norris and Piastri were well clear of the other competitors, with the German's car in third, over half a second off the Australian's time.
The Aston Martin of Fernando Alonso was fourth fastest, with the Sauber of Gabriel Bortoleto ahead of the Mercedes of Russell and the Alpine of Gasly and Williams' Sainz.
