Lando Norris Leads Piastri in Brazilian Practice Session
The British driver has outperformed Oscar Piastri at all of the past five race weekends.
The McLaren driver just pipped team-mate and title rival the Australian for the top spot in the closing stages of the practice session at the Brazilian Grand Prix.
The British racer, who grabbed the title advantage from his teammate by a single point after winning in the Mexican Grand Prix recently, beat the Australian by a mere 0.023s.
Before then, Piastri had been the quickest of the McLaren pair during the running before sprint qualifying set to begin at 6:30 PM GMT.
The Red Bull star, the only other driver in realistic title contention, trailing with a 36-point deficit Norris, was classified in P17 as his team opted for a unique setup.
His teammate the Japanese driver was the sole competitor to go off, if briefly, when he spun at corner four soon after starting.
The Japanese slid over the curbs on exit before spinning across the run-off area, and was blessed to get away with just a light touch of the barrier.
Ferrari's Lewis Hamilton also lost it, at the final moments of the practice, turning around through the quick descending corner leading to the last turn on to the main straight.
The seven-time champion ended the session in 19th, just behind teammate the Monegasque driver.
The McLaren drivers were well clear of the remaining drivers, with Nico Hulkenberg's Sauber third fastest, 0.619secs off Piastri's best.
Aston Martin's Fernando Alonso was fourth quickest, with the Sauber of Gabriel Bortoleto fifth from Mercedes' Russell and Alpine's Pierre Gasly and the Williams of Carlos Sainz.
