Norris Tops Piastri in Brazilian Practice Session
Lando Norris has outperformed Oscar Piastri at all of the last five grands prix.
Lando Norris just pipped team-mate and championship contender the Australian for the top spot in the closing stages of the practice session at the Sao Paulo Grand Prix.
The British racer, who seized the points lead from his teammate by a single point after taking the win in the Mexican Grand Prix recently, beat the Melbourne-born driver by a mere 0.023s.
Before then, Oscar Piastri had been the quickest of the McLaren pair for most of the session before the sprint shootout due at the evening session.
The Red Bull star, the only other driver in the points battle, sitting 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 have an incident, though minor, when he spun at corner four soon after starting.
The Japanese lost control over the exit kerbs before sliding over the run-off area, and was fortunate to avoid just a slight brush of the fence.
Ferrari's the seven-time champion also spun, at the final moments of the practice, spinning around through the high-speed Mergulho corner before the final corner on to the pit straight.
The seven-time champion wrapped up in 19th place, one place behind team-mate Charles Leclerc.
Norris and Piastri were significantly quicker of the rest of the field, with the German's car P3, 0.619secs behind the Australian's time.
The Aston Martin of the Spanish driver was fourth quickest, with the Sauber of Bortoleto fifth from the Mercedes of Russell and Alpine's Pierre Gasly and the Williams of Carlos Sainz.
