Lando Norris Leads Piastri in Brazilian Practice Session
The British driver has outscored his teammate at all of the previous five grands prix.
The McLaren driver just pipped team-mate and championship contender the Australian for the quickest lap in the dying seconds of the practice session at the Brazilian Grand Prix.
The British racer, who seized the championship lead from his teammate by a single point after his victory in the Mexican Grand Prix a fortnight back, topped the Australian by a mere 0.023s.
Until that point, Piastri had been the fastest McLaren driver throughout the hour before the sprint shootout scheduled for 6:30 PM GMT.
Max Verstappen, the other racer in realistic title contention, trailing 36 points behind behind Norris, was classified in 17th place as his Red Bull team opted for a different programme.
Verstappen's team-mate Yuki Tsunoda was the only driver to go off, though minor, when he spun at Turn Four soon after starting.
The Japanese slid over the exit kerbs before rotating through the escape zone, and was blessed to escape with just a minor contact of the barrier.
The Ferrari of Lewis Hamilton also lost it, at the conclusion of the practice, rotating twice through the quick descending Mergulho turn before the last turn on to the start-finish straight.
The seven-time champion finished practice in P19, one place behind team-mate Charles Leclerc.
The McLaren pair were significantly quicker of the remaining drivers, with Nico Hulkenberg's Sauber third fastest, over half a second behind Piastri's pace.
Aston Martin's the Spanish driver was fourth quickest, with Sauber's Bortoleto in front of Mercedes' George Russell and the Alpine of Gasly and Williams' Sainz.
