Lando Norris Edges Out Piastri in Brazilian Practice
The British driver has outperformed his teammate at all of the last five grands prix.
The McLaren driver narrowly beat team-mate and championship contender Oscar Piastri for the quickest lap in the closing stages of the practice session at the Brazilian Grand Prix.
The British racer, who grabbed the points lead from his teammate by a single point after winning in Mexico City two weeks ago, beat the Melbourne-born driver by 0.023 seconds.
Until that point, Oscar Piastri had been the leading McLaren during the running before the sprint shootout set to begin at the evening session.
The Red Bull star, the only other driver in the championship fight, lying 36 points behind behind Norris, was classified in 17th place as his team ran a alternative strategy.
His teammate the Japanese driver was the sole competitor to crash, if briefly, when he lost control at Turn Four soon after starting.
The Japanese spun out over the curbs on exit before spinning across the run-off area, and was fortunate to get away with just a minor contact of the wall.
Ferrari's Lewis Hamilton also spun, at the very end of the practice, spinning around through the fast downhill Mergulho corner approaching the final bend on to the start-finish straight.
The seven-time champion wrapped up in P19, trailing teammate Charles Leclerc.
Norris and Piastri were well clear of the other competitors, with the German's car third fastest, 0.619 seconds off the Australian's time.
The Aston Martin of the Spanish driver was fourth quickest, with Sauber's Gabriel Bortoleto ahead of Mercedes' Russell and Alpine's Pierre Gasly and the Williams of Carlos Sainz.