Norris Leads Oscar Piastri in Sao Paulo Practice
Lando Norris has beaten his teammate at all of the previous five race weekends.
The McLaren driver just pipped fellow driver and championship contender the Australian for the fastest time in the dying seconds of the practice session at the Brazilian Grand Prix.
Norris, who seized the title advantage from his teammate by one point after winning in Mexico City a fortnight back, topped the Australian by a tiny margin of 0.023secs.
Until that point, Piastri had been the leading McLaren during the running before the sprint shootout scheduled for 6:30 PM GMT.
Max Verstappen, the sole remaining contender in the championship fight, trailing 36 points behind behind Norris, was classified in 17th position as his Red Bull team opted for a unique setup.
Verstappen's team-mate Yuki Tsunoda was the only driver to crash, albeit lightly, when he rotated at the fourth corner soon after starting.
The Japanese spun out over the exit kerbs before spinning across the run-off area, and was lucky to get away with just a minor contact of the fence.
The Ferrari of the seven-time champion also lost it, at the final moments of the practice, spinning around through the high-speed Mergulho turn approaching the last turn on to the pit straight.
The veteran wrapped up in 19th place, just behind team-mate Charles Leclerc.
Norris and Piastri were significantly quicker of the rest of the field, with the German's car P3, 0.619secs slower than Piastri's best.
Aston Martin's the Spanish driver was in fourth, with the Sauber of Gabriel Bortoleto fifth from Mercedes' Russell and Alpine's Pierre Gasly and Williams' Sainz.
