Lando Norris Tops Oscar Piastri in Brazilian Practice
The British driver has outscored his teammate at each of the previous five grands prix.
The McLaren driver narrowly beat fellow driver and title rival the Australian for the fastest time in the dying seconds of the practice session at the Sao Paulo Grand Prix.
The British racer, who took the championship lead from his teammate by a single point after taking the win in the Mexican Grand Prix a fortnight back, outpaced the Melbourne-born driver by 0.023 seconds.
Until that point, Piastri had been the quickest of the McLaren pair during the running before sprint qualifying due at the evening session.
The Red Bull star, the only other driver in the championship fight, lying 36 points Norris, was classified in 17th position as his team ran a different programme.
His teammate the Japanese driver was the sole competitor to crash, though minor, when he rotated at the fourth corner early in the session.
The Japanese slid over the track edges before sliding over the run-off area, and was blessed to escape with just a minor contact of the wall.
The Ferrari of the seven-time champion also spun, at the final moments of the session, spinning around through the high-speed Mergulho corner leading to the final bend on to the pit straight.
The veteran wrapped up in 19th place, trailing team-mate Charles Leclerc.
The McLaren drivers were well clear of the other competitors, with the German's car third fastest, 0.619 seconds slower than the Australian's time.
Aston Martin's the Spanish driver was fourth quickest, with the Sauber of Gabriel Bortoleto in front of Mercedes' George Russell and Alpine's Pierre Gasly and the Williams of Carlos Sainz.
