Lando Norris Edges Out Oscar Piastri in Sao Paulo Practice
Lando Norris has outscored Oscar Piastri at all of the previous five race weekends.
Lando Norris narrowly beat fellow driver and championship contender the Australian for the fastest time in the dying seconds 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 winning in the Mexican Grand Prix recently, beat the Melbourne-born driver by a tiny margin of 0.023secs.
Earlier in the session, Piastri had been the fastest McLaren driver during the running before sprint qualifying due at the evening session.
The Red Bull star, the only other driver in realistic title contention, lying with a 36-point deficit behind Norris, finished in P17 as his team opted for a alternative strategy.
His teammate the Japanese driver was the only driver to have an incident, albeit lightly, when he rotated at Turn Four soon after starting.
The Japanese slid over the track edges before sliding over the escape zone, and was lucky to escape with just a light touch of the fence.
The Ferrari of Lewis Hamilton also lost it, at the very end of the practice, rotating twice through the fast downhill Mergulho corner approaching the last turn on to the pit straight.
The veteran finished practice in 19th, one place behind teammate Charles Leclerc.
The McLaren pair were well clear of the rest of the field, with the German's Sauber third fastest, 0.619secs slower than Piastri's best.
Aston Martin's the Spanish driver was in fourth, with the Sauber of Bortoleto in front of the Mercedes of Russell and Alpine's Gasly and the Williams of Sainz.
