Lando Norris Edges Out Piastri in Sao Paulo Practice
Lando Norris has outscored Oscar Piastri at all of the last five race weekends.
Lando Norris narrowly beat fellow driver and title rival Oscar Piastri for the quickest lap in the closing stages of the practice session at the Sao Paulo Grand Prix.
Norris, who took the championship lead from Piastri by a single point after taking the win in Mexico City a fortnight back, topped the Melbourne-born driver by a tiny margin of 0.023secs.
Until that point, Oscar Piastri had been the fastest McLaren driver during the running before sprint qualifying set to begin at 6:30 PM GMT.
Max Verstappen, the other racer in the points battle, lying 36 points Norris, was classified in P17 as his Red Bull team ran a alternative strategy.
His teammate Yuki Tsunoda was the sole competitor to go off, albeit lightly, when he rotated at Turn Four soon after starting.
The Japanese lost control over the exit kerbs before rotating through the gravel trap, and was fortunate to avoid just a minor contact of the wall.
Ferrari's Lewis Hamilton also had a spin, at the final moments of the practice, turning around through the quick descending Mergulho corner before the last turn on to the main straight.
Hamilton ended the session in 19th, just behind team-mate Charles Leclerc.
The McLaren pair were well clear of the other competitors, with the German's Sauber in third, 0.619secs slower than Piastri's pace.
The Aston Martin of Fernando Alonso was fourth quickest, with the Sauber of Bortoleto ahead of Mercedes' Russell and Alpine's Pierre Gasly and Williams' Carlos Sainz.
