Lando Norris Edges Out Oscar Piastri in Brazilian Practice Session
Lando Norris has outperformed Oscar Piastri at each of the past five grands prix.
Lando Norris narrowly beat fellow driver and title rival Oscar Piastri for the fastest time in the closing stages of the practice session at the Sao Paulo Grand Prix.
Norris, who seized the points lead from his teammate by a single point after winning in Mexico City two weeks ago, topped the Melbourne-born driver by a tiny margin of 0.023secs.
Until that point, Piastri had been the quickest of the McLaren pair during the running before sprint qualifying due at 6:30 PM GMT.
Max Verstappen, the sole remaining contender in the championship fight, lying with a 36-point deficit behind Norris, finished in 17th position as his Red Bull team ran a different programme.
Verstappen's team-mate Yuki Tsunoda was the only driver to crash, if briefly, when he spun at Turn Four early in the session.
The Japanese lost control over the curbs on exit before rotating through the gravel trap, and was blessed to escape with just a slight brush of the wall.
The Ferrari of the seven-time champion also lost it, at the conclusion of the practice, spinning around through the fast downhill Mergulho corner leading to the last turn on to the start-finish straight.
The veteran finished practice in 19th, just behind team-mate Charles Leclerc.
The McLaren drivers were significantly quicker of the rest of the field, with the German's car P3, 0.619secs behind the Australian's time.
The Aston Martin of the Spanish driver was fourth fastest, with the Sauber of Gabriel Bortoleto ahead of the Mercedes of George Russell and the Alpine of Gasly and Williams' Sainz.
