Norris Leads Oscar Piastri in Brazilian Practice
Lando Norris has outperformed Oscar Piastri at each of the last five race weekends.
The McLaren driver narrowly beat fellow driver and championship contender Oscar Piastri for the top spot in the closing stages of the practice session at the Brazilian Grand Prix.
Norris, who seized the title advantage from Piastri by a single point after his victory in Mexico City recently, beat the Australian by a tiny margin of 0.023secs.
Before then, Oscar Piastri had been the fastest McLaren driver throughout the hour before sprint qualifying set to begin at 18:30 GMT.
The Red Bull star, the only other driver in the championship fight, lying 36 points behind Norris, was classified in P17 as his Red Bull team followed a alternative strategy.
His teammate Yuki Tsunoda was the sole competitor to go off, albeit lightly, when he spun at corner four soon after starting.
The Japanese spun out over the exit kerbs before spinning across the gravel trap, and was lucky to get away with just a light touch of the wall.
The Ferrari of Lewis Hamilton also lost it, at the conclusion of the practice, rotating twice through the quick descending Mergulho turn approaching the last turn on to the main straight.
The seven-time champion wrapped up in P19, trailing teammate the Monegasque driver.
The McLaren pair were significantly quicker of the remaining drivers, with Nico Hulkenberg's car in third, over half a second behind Piastri's best.
The Aston Martin of the Spanish driver was in fourth, with Sauber's Gabriel Bortoleto fifth from Mercedes' Russell and the Alpine of Pierre Gasly and the Williams of Carlos Sainz.