Lando Norris Tops Piastri in Sao Paulo Practice
Lando Norris has outscored his teammate at all of the past five grands prix.
Lando Norris just pipped fellow driver and championship contender Oscar Piastri for the top spot in the dying seconds of the practice session at the Brazilian Grand Prix.
Norris, who took the points lead from Piastri by a single point after winning 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 the sprint shootout scheduled for the evening session.
Max Verstappen, the other racer in the points battle, lying with a 36-point deficit behind Norris, was classified in P17 as his team opted for a unique setup.
Verstappen's team-mate the Japanese driver was the sole competitor to have an incident, albeit lightly, when he spun at the fourth corner early in the session.
The Japanese slid over the exit kerbs before sliding over the gravel trap, and was lucky to escape with just a light touch of the barrier.
The Ferrari of Lewis Hamilton also had a spin, at the final moments of the practice, spinning around through the quick descending Mergulho turn leading to the final corner on to the start-finish straight.
The seven-time champion wrapped up in 19th place, trailing teammate the Monegasque driver.
The McLaren drivers were well clear of the remaining drivers, with Nico Hulkenberg's Sauber in third, over half a second slower than the Australian's time.
Aston Martin's the Spanish driver was fourth quickest, with the Sauber of Bortoleto in front of Mercedes' Russell and Alpine's Gasly and Williams' Carlos Sainz.
