Lando Norris Edges Out Piastri in Brazilian Practice Session
The British driver has outperformed Oscar Piastri at each of the last five grands prix.
Lando Norris edged out fellow driver and title rival Oscar Piastri for the fastest time in the closing stages of practice at the Sao Paulo Grand Prix.
The British racer, who grabbed the championship lead from his teammate by a single point after taking the win in Mexico City two weeks ago, topped the Australian by 0.023 seconds.
Earlier in the session, Piastri had been the fastest McLaren driver throughout the hour before sprint qualifying due at 6:30 PM GMT.
The Red Bull star, the sole remaining contender in realistic title contention, lying 36 points behind behind Norris, was classified in P17 as his team followed a different programme.
His teammate Yuki Tsunoda was the sole competitor to go off, if briefly, when he spun at Turn Four early in the session.
The Japanese lost control over the curbs on exit before spinning across the escape zone, and was blessed to escape with just a slight brush of the barrier.
The Ferrari of the seven-time champion also lost it, at the very end of the practice, turning around through the quick descending Mergulho corner before the last turn on to the main straight.
The seven-time champion ended the session in P19, just behind teammate Charles Leclerc.
Norris and Piastri were significantly quicker of the rest of the field, with the German's Sauber in third, 0.619 seconds behind Piastri's pace.
The Aston Martin of Fernando Alonso was fourth fastest, with Sauber's Bortoleto fifth from Mercedes' George Russell and Alpine's Gasly and the Williams of Sainz.
