Lando Norris Leads Piastri in Sao Paulo Practice Session
The British driver has outscored his teammate at each of the past five race weekends.
Lando Norris narrowly beat team-mate and championship contender the Australian for the fastest time 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 just one point after his victory in the Mexican Grand Prix recently, topped the Australian by 0.023 seconds.
Before then, Piastri had been the leading McLaren during the running before sprint qualifying scheduled for 6:30 PM GMT.
The Red Bull star, the only other driver in the points battle, trailing 36 points behind Norris, was classified in 17th position as his team ran a alternative strategy.
His teammate Yuki Tsunoda was the sole competitor to go off, albeit lightly, when he rotated at Turn Four soon after starting.
The Japanese lost control over the track edges before sliding over the gravel trap, and was fortunate to escape with just a light touch of the fence.
Ferrari's Lewis Hamilton also had a spin, at the very end of the practice, rotating twice through the high-speed corner leading to the last turn on to the main straight.
The seven-time champion finished practice in 19th place, trailing team-mate Charles Leclerc.
Norris and Piastri were well clear of the rest of the field, with the German's car P3, 0.619secs behind Piastri's pace.
The Aston Martin of Fernando Alonso was in fourth, with Sauber's Gabriel Bortoleto fifth from the Mercedes of George Russell and Alpine's Pierre Gasly and the Williams of Carlos Sainz.
