Lando Norris Edges Out Piastri in Sao Paulo Practice Session
Lando Norris has outperformed his teammate at each of the past five race weekends.
Lando Norris edged out team-mate and title rival Oscar Piastri for the quickest lap in the closing stages of practice at the Brazilian Grand Prix.
Norris, who grabbed the points lead from Piastri by a single point after taking the win in Mexico City a fortnight back, beat the Australian by 0.023 seconds.
Until that point, Piastri had been the leading McLaren throughout the hour before the sprint shootout due at 18:30 GMT.
The Red Bull star, the other racer in the championship fight, lying 36 points Norris, was classified in P17 as his team followed a different programme.
His teammate the Japanese driver was the only driver to have an incident, if briefly, when he spun at Turn Four soon after starting.
The Japanese slid over the curbs on exit before rotating through the run-off area, and was lucky to avoid just a minor contact of the fence.
The Ferrari of the seven-time champion also lost it, at the final moments of the session, spinning around through the fast downhill Mergulho turn before the final corner on to the main straight.
The seven-time champion ended the session in P19, one place behind team-mate the Monegasque driver.
The McLaren drivers were well clear of the other competitors, with Nico Hulkenberg's Sauber in third, 0.619 seconds off Piastri's best.
Aston Martin's Fernando Alonso was fourth fastest, with Sauber's Gabriel Bortoleto in front of the Mercedes of George Russell and the Alpine of Pierre Gasly and Williams' Sainz.