Norris Tops Piastri in Brazilian Practice
Lando Norris has outperformed Oscar Piastri at all of the last five grands prix.
The McLaren driver just pipped fellow driver and championship contender Oscar Piastri for the top spot in the dying seconds of the practice session at the Sao Paulo Grand Prix.
Norris, who grabbed the title advantage from Piastri by a single point after winning in Mexico City two weeks ago, outpaced the Australian by a tiny margin of 0.023secs.
Earlier in the session, Piastri had been the leading McLaren throughout the hour before sprint qualifying set to begin at 18:30 GMT.
The Red Bull star, the other racer in the points battle, sitting with a 36-point deficit behind Norris, was classified in 17th position as his team ran a alternative strategy.
His teammate the Japanese driver was the only driver to go off, if briefly, when he spun at Turn Four early in the session.
The Japanese slid over the exit kerbs before sliding over the gravel trap, and was lucky to escape with just a slight brush of the fence.
Ferrari's Lewis Hamilton also had a spin, at the final moments of the practice, turning around through the quick descending corner approaching the final corner on to the main straight.
The seven-time champion wrapped up in 19th place, one place behind teammate the Monegasque driver.
The McLaren drivers were significantly quicker of the rest of the field, with Nico Hulkenberg's Sauber third fastest, 0.619secs slower than Piastri's best.
The Aston Martin of the Spanish driver was fourth quickest, with Sauber's Gabriel Bortoleto fifth from Mercedes' Russell and the Alpine of Pierre Gasly and the Williams of Sainz.
