Lando Norris Leads Oscar Piastri in Brazilian Practice
Lando Norris has outscored Oscar Piastri at all of the last five race weekends.
The McLaren driver edged out team-mate and title rival Oscar Piastri for the top spot in the final moments of the practice session at the Sao Paulo Grand Prix.
Norris, who seized the championship lead from his teammate by just one point after his victory in the Mexican Grand Prix two weeks ago, topped the Australian by a tiny margin of 0.023secs.
Until that point, Piastri had been the quickest of the McLaren pair for most of the session before the sprint shootout due at 18:30 GMT.
The Red Bull star, the sole remaining contender in realistic title contention, lying 36 points behind Norris, ended up in 17th position as his Red Bull team ran a unique setup.
His teammate the Japanese driver was the sole competitor to crash, if briefly, when he spun at Turn Four soon after starting.
The Japanese spun out over the track edges before rotating through the escape zone, and was lucky to get away with just a minor contact of the fence.
The Ferrari of the seven-time champion also spun, at the very end of the session, turning around through the fast downhill corner before the last turn on to the start-finish straight.
The seven-time champion finished practice in 19th place, just behind teammate the Monegasque driver.
Norris and Piastri were significantly quicker of the rest of the field, with Nico Hulkenberg's Sauber third fastest, 0.619 seconds off Piastri's best.
Aston Martin's the Spanish driver was fourth fastest, with the Sauber of Gabriel Bortoleto in front of the Mercedes of Russell and Alpine's Pierre Gasly and the Williams of Sainz.
