Lando Norris Leads Piastri in Brazilian Practice Session
The British driver has beaten Oscar Piastri at all of the previous five race weekends.
Lando Norris just pipped fellow driver and championship contender Oscar Piastri for the quickest lap in the final moments of practice at the Brazilian Grand Prix.
Norris, who seized the championship lead from his teammate by just one point after taking the win in the Mexican Grand Prix two weeks ago, outpaced the Melbourne-born driver by 0.023 seconds.
Earlier in the session, Piastri had been the quickest of the McLaren pair throughout the hour before the sprint shootout scheduled for 6:30 PM GMT.
Max Verstappen, the only other driver in realistic title contention, sitting 36 points behind Norris, was classified in 17th position as his Red Bull team followed a alternative strategy.
His teammate Yuki Tsunoda was the sole competitor to have an incident, albeit lightly, when he spun at corner four during the early running.
The Japanese slid over the exit kerbs before sliding over the escape zone, and was blessed to avoid just a slight brush of the wall.
The Ferrari of Lewis Hamilton also spun, at the conclusion of the practice, rotating twice through the fast downhill corner before the final corner on to the pit straight.
Hamilton wrapped up in P19, trailing team-mate the Monegasque driver.
Norris and Piastri were well clear of the other competitors, with the German's car in third, 0.619secs off Piastri's best.
Aston Martin's the Spanish driver was fourth fastest, with Sauber's Gabriel Bortoleto ahead of Mercedes' Russell and Alpine's Gasly and the Williams of Sainz.
