Lando Norris Leads Piastri in Sao Paulo Practice
The British driver has beaten Oscar Piastri at each of the previous five race weekends.
The McLaren driver just pipped team-mate and championship contender the Australian for the quickest lap in the final moments of the practice session at the Brazilian Grand Prix.
The British racer, who seized the points lead from Piastri by one point after taking the win in the Mexican Grand Prix a fortnight back, beat the Australian by a mere 0.023s.
Earlier in the session, Oscar Piastri had been the fastest McLaren driver for most of the session before the sprint shootout set to begin at the evening session.
The Red Bull star, the other racer in the points battle, lying with a 36-point deficit behind Norris, was classified in P17 as his Red Bull team opted for a different programme.
His teammate the Japanese driver was the sole competitor to crash, albeit lightly, when he spun at the fourth corner during the early running.
The Japanese slid over the exit kerbs before rotating through the escape zone, and was fortunate to avoid just a slight brush of the barrier.
The Ferrari of Lewis Hamilton also spun, at the very end of the session, turning around through the quick descending corner leading to the final bend on to the start-finish straight.
The veteran wrapped up in P19, one place behind team-mate Charles Leclerc.
The McLaren drivers were far ahead of the remaining drivers, with the German's car P3, over half a second slower than Piastri's best.
Aston Martin's Fernando Alonso was in fourth, with Sauber's Bortoleto ahead of the Mercedes of Russell and the Alpine of Pierre Gasly and Williams' Sainz.
