Lando Norris Leads Oscar Piastri in Sao Paulo Practice
Lando Norris has outperformed Oscar Piastri at each of the past five grands prix.
The McLaren driver edged out fellow driver and title rival Oscar Piastri for the quickest lap in the closing stages of the practice session at the Brazilian Grand Prix.
The British racer, who seized the title advantage from his teammate by just one point after taking the win in the Mexican Grand Prix two weeks ago, outpaced the Melbourne-born driver by a tiny margin of 0.023secs.
Before then, Oscar Piastri had been the quickest of the McLaren pair for most of the session before the sprint shootout set to begin at the evening session.
Max Verstappen, the only other driver in the championship fight, trailing 36 points behind behind Norris, ended up in 17th position as his team followed a different programme.
His teammate Yuki Tsunoda was the sole competitor to go off, though minor, when he lost control at corner four early in the session.
The Japanese lost control over the exit kerbs before sliding over the escape zone, and was fortunate to escape with just a minor contact of the wall.
The Ferrari of Lewis Hamilton also lost it, at the final moments of the session, rotating twice through the high-speed Mergulho corner approaching the final corner on to the start-finish straight.
The seven-time champion finished practice in 19th place, one place behind team-mate the Monegasque driver.
The McLaren drivers were far ahead of the other competitors, with the German's Sauber in third, over half a second off the Australian's time.
Aston Martin's Fernando Alonso was fourth fastest, with the Sauber of Gabriel Bortoleto ahead of Mercedes' George Russell and the Alpine of Pierre Gasly and Williams' Sainz.
