Lando Norris Tops Oscar Piastri in Brazilian Practice Session
The British driver has beaten Oscar Piastri at all of the last five grands prix.
Lando Norris narrowly beat fellow driver and championship contender Oscar Piastri for the fastest time in the final moments of the practice session at the Sao Paulo Grand Prix.
The British racer, who seized the championship lead from his teammate by one point after taking the win in Mexico City recently, outpaced the Australian by a tiny margin of 0.023secs.
Before then, Piastri had been the fastest McLaren driver for most of the session before sprint qualifying due at the evening session.
Max Verstappen, the other racer in realistic title contention, sitting 36 points behind Norris, ended up in P17 as his Red Bull team followed a different programme.
His teammate Yuki Tsunoda was the sole competitor to crash, albeit lightly, when he rotated at the fourth corner early in the session.
Tsunoda lost control over the exit kerbs before spinning across the gravel trap, and was lucky to escape with just a minor contact of the fence.
Ferrari's Lewis Hamilton also lost it, at the conclusion of the session, spinning around through the fast downhill Mergulho turn leading to the final bend on to the main straight.
Hamilton ended the session in 19th place, trailing teammate Charles Leclerc.
The McLaren drivers were far ahead of the remaining drivers, with Nico Hulkenberg's Sauber P3, over half a second slower than Piastri's best.
Aston Martin's Fernando Alonso was in fourth, with the Sauber of Gabriel Bortoleto ahead of Mercedes' Russell and the Alpine of Pierre Gasly and Williams' Sainz.
