Lando Norris Leads Piastri in Sao Paulo Practice
The British driver has outscored Oscar Piastri at all of the previous five grands prix.
Lando Norris just pipped fellow driver and championship contender the Australian for the fastest time in the closing stages of practice at the Brazilian Grand Prix.
The British racer, who seized the championship lead from his teammate by just one point after winning in the Mexican Grand Prix two weeks ago, beat the Melbourne-born driver by a tiny margin of 0.023secs.
Earlier in the session, Oscar 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 only other driver in the championship fight, trailing with a 36-point deficit Norris, was classified in P17 as his team ran a unique setup.
Verstappen's team-mate the Japanese driver was the sole competitor to have an incident, though minor, when he rotated at Turn Four early in the session.
The Japanese spun out over the exit kerbs before sliding over the escape zone, and was fortunate to avoid just a light touch of the barrier.
The Ferrari of Lewis Hamilton also spun, at the very end of the session, rotating twice through the high-speed corner leading to the final corner on to the main straight.
Hamilton wrapped up in 19th, one place behind team-mate Charles Leclerc.
The McLaren pair were far ahead of the rest of the field, with the German's Sauber third fastest, over half a second behind Piastri's best.
The Aston Martin of the Spanish driver was fourth fastest, with Sauber's Gabriel Bortoleto ahead of Mercedes' Russell and the Alpine of Pierre Gasly and the Williams of Carlos Sainz.
