Lando Norris Edges Out Piastri in Sao Paulo Practice
The British driver has outscored Oscar Piastri at all of the past five grands prix.
Lando Norris edged out fellow driver and championship contender the Australian for the fastest time in the closing stages of practice at the Brazilian Grand Prix.
Norris, who grabbed the title advantage from his teammate by just one point after winning in the Mexican Grand Prix recently, outpaced the Australian by a tiny margin of 0.023secs.
Earlier in the session, Piastri had been the quickest of the McLaren pair for most of the session before the sprint shootout due at the evening session.
Max Verstappen, the sole remaining contender in realistic title contention, sitting with a 36-point deficit Norris, ended up in P17 as his team followed a unique setup.
His teammate Yuki Tsunoda was the only driver to go off, albeit lightly, when he rotated at Turn Four early in the session.
The Japanese spun out over the exit kerbs before rotating through the escape zone, and was blessed to avoid just a slight brush of the wall.
The Ferrari of Lewis Hamilton also spun, at the conclusion of the practice, rotating twice through the high-speed corner before the final corner on to the start-finish straight.
The veteran finished practice in 19th, trailing team-mate the Monegasque driver.
The McLaren pair were well clear of the remaining drivers, with the German's Sauber third fastest, over half a second slower than Piastri's best.
The Aston Martin of the Spanish driver was fourth quickest, with the Sauber of Bortoleto ahead of Mercedes' Russell and the Alpine of Pierre Gasly and the Williams of Carlos Sainz.
