Lando Norris Leads Oscar Piastri in Sao Paulo Practice Session
The British driver has outscored his teammate at all of the last five race weekends.
The McLaren driver just pipped team-mate and title rival the Australian for the fastest time in the final moments of practice at the Sao Paulo Grand Prix.
Norris, who took the championship lead from his teammate by one point after taking the win in Mexico City a fortnight back, beat the Melbourne-born driver by a mere 0.023s.
Before then, Piastri had been the quickest of the McLaren pair during the running before sprint qualifying scheduled for 6:30 PM GMT.
Max Verstappen, the other racer in realistic title contention, trailing 36 points behind Norris, was classified in P17 as his Red Bull team opted for a unique setup.
Verstappen's team-mate Yuki Tsunoda was the sole competitor to go off, if briefly, when he spun at the fourth corner soon after starting.
Tsunoda lost control over the curbs on exit before rotating through the escape zone, and was fortunate to escape with just a light touch of the wall.
The Ferrari of the seven-time champion also had a spin, at the conclusion of the practice, spinning around through the high-speed Mergulho turn leading to the final corner on to the pit straight.
The seven-time champion wrapped up in 19th, one place behind teammate the Monegasque driver.
Norris and Piastri were far ahead of the other competitors, with Nico Hulkenberg's car in third, over half a second behind Piastri's best.
The Aston Martin of Fernando Alonso was fourth fastest, with the Sauber of Gabriel Bortoleto in front of Mercedes' George Russell and the Alpine of Gasly and Williams' Sainz.