Lando Norris Leads Piastri in Brazilian Practice
The British driver has outperformed his teammate at each of the previous five grands prix.
The McLaren driver edged out fellow driver and championship contender the Australian for the top spot in the final moments of practice at the Brazilian Grand Prix.
The British racer, who grabbed the points lead from Piastri by one point after winning in Mexico City recently, outpaced the Australian by a tiny margin of 0.023secs.
Before then, Oscar Piastri had been the fastest McLaren driver throughout the hour before the sprint shootout due at 6:30 PM GMT.
Max Verstappen, the sole remaining contender in the points battle, trailing 36 points behind Norris, finished in 17th position as his Red Bull team followed a different programme.
Verstappen's team-mate the Japanese driver was the only driver to go off, though minor, when he rotated at Turn Four soon after starting.
The Japanese spun out over the curbs on exit before sliding over the run-off area, and was fortunate to avoid just a slight brush of the barrier.
Ferrari's the seven-time champion also spun, at the very end of the session, turning around through the high-speed corner before the final bend on to the main straight.
The seven-time champion ended the session in P19, trailing team-mate Charles Leclerc.
The McLaren drivers were well clear of the rest of the field, with Nico Hulkenberg's car P3, 0.619secs slower than Piastri's best.
The Aston Martin of Fernando Alonso was in fourth, with the Sauber of Bortoleto ahead of the Mercedes of Russell and the Alpine of Gasly and Williams' Carlos Sainz.
