Lando Norris Tops Piastri in Brazilian Practice
Lando Norris has outscored Oscar Piastri at each of the past five race weekends.
Lando Norris narrowly beat fellow driver and title rival the Australian for the top spot in the dying seconds of the practice session at the Sao Paulo Grand Prix.
The British racer, who seized the title advantage from his teammate by just one point after winning in the Mexican Grand Prix two weeks ago, outpaced the Australian by 0.023 seconds.
Earlier in the session, Oscar Piastri had been the quickest of the McLaren pair throughout the hour before the sprint shootout scheduled for 6:30 PM GMT.
Max Verstappen, the only other driver in realistic title contention, trailing 36 points behind Norris, was classified in 17th place as his team ran a alternative strategy.
Verstappen's team-mate Yuki Tsunoda was the sole competitor to crash, if briefly, when he rotated at Turn Four early in the session.
The Japanese spun out over the track edges before rotating through the gravel trap, and was blessed to escape with just a light touch of the fence.
Ferrari's Lewis Hamilton also had a spin, at the very end of the session, rotating twice through the quick descending corner before the final corner on to the pit straight.
The veteran wrapped up in 19th, just behind teammate the Monegasque driver.
Norris and Piastri were far ahead of the other competitors, with the German's car in third, over half a second off Piastri's best.
Aston Martin's the Spanish driver was fourth quickest, with the Sauber of Gabriel Bortoleto ahead of Mercedes' Russell and Alpine's Gasly and the Williams of Carlos Sainz.
