Norris Tops Oscar Piastri in Brazilian Practice
The British driver has beaten Oscar Piastri at each of the past five race weekends.
Lando Norris just pipped fellow driver and title rival the Australian for the top spot in the closing stages of practice at the Brazilian Grand Prix.
The British racer, who grabbed the title advantage from Piastri by a single point after taking the win in the Mexican Grand Prix recently, topped the Melbourne-born driver by 0.023 seconds.
Until that point, Oscar Piastri had been the leading McLaren throughout the hour before sprint qualifying due at the evening session.
Max Verstappen, the other racer in the championship fight, sitting 36 points behind behind Norris, was classified in P17 as his Red Bull team ran a different programme.
Verstappen's team-mate the Japanese driver was the sole competitor to crash, if briefly, when he rotated at the fourth corner soon after starting.
The Japanese lost control over the curbs on exit before spinning across the gravel trap, and was fortunate to escape with just a slight brush of the fence.
The Ferrari of Lewis Hamilton also spun, at the final moments of the session, spinning around through the high-speed Mergulho turn leading to the last turn on to the pit straight.
The veteran ended the session in 19th place, trailing teammate Charles Leclerc.
Norris and Piastri were significantly quicker of the remaining drivers, with the German's car third fastest, 0.619 seconds slower than Piastri's best.
Aston Martin's the Spanish driver was fourth fastest, with Sauber's Bortoleto in front of Mercedes' Russell and the Alpine of Pierre Gasly and Williams' Sainz.
