Lando Norris Leads Piastri in Brazilian Practice
Lando Norris has outperformed Oscar Piastri at each of the previous five grands prix.
Lando Norris edged out fellow driver and championship contender Oscar Piastri for the fastest time in the closing stages of the practice session at the Sao Paulo Grand Prix.
The British racer, who grabbed the championship lead from his teammate by a single point after his victory in the Mexican Grand Prix a fortnight back, outpaced the Melbourne-born driver by a mere 0.023s.
Before then, Piastri had been the fastest McLaren driver for most of the session before sprint qualifying scheduled for 6:30 PM GMT.
Max Verstappen, the sole remaining contender in the points battle, lying with a 36-point deficit behind Norris, ended up in P17 as his Red Bull team ran a alternative strategy.
His teammate Yuki Tsunoda was the sole competitor to have an incident, though minor, when he rotated at Turn Four early in the session.
Tsunoda spun out over the track edges before sliding over the run-off area, and was fortunate to escape with just a light touch of the fence.
Ferrari's Lewis Hamilton also lost it, at the final moments of the practice, spinning around through the fast downhill Mergulho corner approaching the last turn on to the main straight.
Hamilton ended the session in 19th place, one place behind teammate Charles Leclerc.
The McLaren drivers were significantly quicker of the remaining drivers, with Nico Hulkenberg's car P3, 0.619secs slower than the Australian's time.
Aston Martin's Fernando Alonso was fourth fastest, with Sauber's Gabriel Bortoleto fifth from Mercedes' George Russell and the Alpine of Pierre Gasly and the Williams of Carlos Sainz.
