Lando Norris Tops Piastri in Sao Paulo Practice
Lando Norris has outscored Oscar Piastri at each of the previous five grands prix.
Lando Norris just pipped fellow driver and championship contender Oscar Piastri for the quickest lap in the closing stages of the practice session at the Brazilian Grand Prix.
The British racer, who took the title advantage from his teammate by one point after taking the win in Mexico City two weeks ago, topped the Australian by a tiny margin of 0.023secs.
Earlier in the session, Oscar Piastri had been the leading McLaren for most of the session before the sprint shootout scheduled for 18:30 GMT.
Max Verstappen, the only other driver in realistic title contention, lying 36 points behind Norris, was classified in P17 as his team followed a alternative strategy.
His teammate Yuki Tsunoda was the only driver to crash, if briefly, when he rotated at corner four early in the session.
The Japanese slid over the track edges before sliding over the escape zone, and was lucky to escape with just a minor contact of the barrier.
The Ferrari of Lewis Hamilton also spun, at the conclusion of the practice, turning around through the high-speed Mergulho corner approaching the final corner on to the main straight.
Hamilton ended the session in 19th, trailing team-mate Charles Leclerc.
The McLaren pair were well clear of the other competitors, with Nico Hulkenberg's car third fastest, 0.619 seconds off Piastri's pace.
The Aston Martin of the Spanish driver was in fourth, with the Sauber of Bortoleto fifth from the Mercedes of George Russell and Alpine's Gasly and Williams' Sainz.
