Lando Norris has outperformed his teammate at each of the previous five grands prix.
Lando Norris just pipped fellow driver and championship contender the Australian for the quickest lap in the final moments of practice at the Sao Paulo Grand Prix.
The British racer, who took the championship lead from his teammate by a single point after his victory in Mexico City two weeks ago, beat the Melbourne-born driver by 0.023 seconds.
Until that point, Oscar Piastri had been the leading McLaren throughout the hour before the sprint shootout scheduled for 6:30 PM GMT.
Max Verstappen, the only other driver in realistic title contention, sitting 36 points behind Norris, ended up in 17th position as his Red Bull team opted for a unique setup.
Verstappen's team-mate Yuki Tsunoda was the sole competitor to go off, though minor, when he lost control at Turn Four during the early running.
The Japanese slid over the curbs on exit before sliding over the gravel trap, and was fortunate to get away with just a slight brush of the fence.
Ferrari's the seven-time champion also had a spin, at the very end of the session, spinning around through the high-speed Mergulho turn before the last turn on to the pit straight.
The seven-time champion wrapped up in 19th, trailing teammate the Monegasque driver.
Norris and Piastri were significantly quicker of the rest of the field, with the German's car third fastest, 0.619 seconds slower than Piastri's pace.
Aston Martin's the Spanish driver was fourth fastest, with Sauber's Bortoleto fifth from the Mercedes of Russell and Alpine's Gasly and the Williams of Sainz.
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Scott Booth
Scott Booth
Scott Booth
Scott Booth
Scott Booth