Norris Leads Piastri in Brazilian Practice
Lando Norris has outperformed Oscar Piastri at all of the past five grands prix.
The McLaren driver just pipped team-mate and championship contender Oscar Piastri for the top spot in the closing stages of practice at the Sao Paulo Grand Prix.
The British racer, who grabbed the points lead from his teammate by one point after his victory in the Mexican Grand Prix recently, beat the Australian by a mere 0.023s.
Until that point, Oscar Piastri had been the leading McLaren during the running before the sprint shootout set to begin at 6:30 PM GMT.
Max Verstappen, the other racer in the points battle, lying with a 36-point deficit Norris, finished in P17 as his team ran a alternative strategy.
Verstappen's team-mate the Japanese driver was the sole competitor to have an incident, though minor, when he spun at the fourth corner soon after starting.
The Japanese slid over the curbs on exit before rotating through the escape zone, and was lucky to get away with just a slight brush of the barrier.
The Ferrari of the seven-time champion also had a spin, at the final moments of the practice, spinning around through the high-speed corner approaching the final bend on to the main straight.
The seven-time champion wrapped up in P19, just behind teammate Charles Leclerc.
The McLaren pair were far ahead of the remaining drivers, with Nico Hulkenberg's car third fastest, 0.619 seconds behind the Australian's time.
The Aston Martin of Fernando Alonso was fourth quickest, with the Sauber of Gabriel Bortoleto in front of the Mercedes of Russell and Alpine's Pierre Gasly and Williams' Sainz.
