Lando Norris Tops Piastri in Sao Paulo Practice Session
The British driver has outperformed Oscar Piastri at all of the last five grands prix.
Lando Norris just pipped fellow driver and championship contender the Australian for the fastest time in the final moments of the practice session at the Brazilian Grand Prix.
Norris, who took the championship lead from Piastri by just one point after winning in Mexico City recently, topped the Australian by a mere 0.023s.
Until that point, Piastri had been the quickest of the McLaren pair for most of the session before the sprint shootout set to begin at the evening session.
Max Verstappen, the sole remaining contender in realistic title contention, lying 36 points Norris, finished in 17th place as his team ran a different programme.
Verstappen's team-mate the Japanese driver was the sole competitor to go off, though minor, when he rotated at corner four soon after starting.
The Japanese lost control over the exit kerbs before sliding over the run-off area, and was lucky to escape with just a minor contact of the barrier.
The Ferrari of Lewis Hamilton also lost it, at the very end of the session, turning around through the quick descending corner approaching the final corner on to the start-finish straight.
The seven-time champion ended the session in P19, one place behind team-mate Charles Leclerc.
The McLaren drivers were significantly quicker of the other competitors, with Nico Hulkenberg'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 ahead of Mercedes' Russell and Alpine's Pierre Gasly and the Williams of Sainz.