Norris Tops Piastri in Brazilian Practice
Lando Norris has outperformed Oscar Piastri at all of the last five race weekends.
The McLaren driver narrowly beat fellow driver and title rival the Australian for the top spot in the dying seconds of the practice session at the Sao Paulo Grand Prix.
Norris, who grabbed the championship lead from his teammate by a single point after his victory in the Mexican Grand Prix two weeks ago, 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 the evening session.
The Red Bull star, the sole remaining contender in realistic title contention, trailing 36 points behind Norris, ended up in 17th place as his team opted for a unique setup.
His teammate the Japanese driver was the sole competitor to crash, albeit lightly, when he spun at corner four early in the session.
The Japanese spun out over the curbs on exit before sliding over the escape zone, and was blessed to avoid just a minor contact of the fence.
The Ferrari of Lewis Hamilton also had a spin, at the conclusion of the practice, rotating twice through the quick descending Mergulho turn approaching the final corner on to the pit straight.
The veteran wrapped up in 19th place, one place behind team-mate Charles Leclerc.
The McLaren drivers were far ahead of the other competitors, with Nico Hulkenberg's Sauber third fastest, over half a second off Piastri's best.
The Aston Martin of Fernando Alonso was fourth fastest, with Sauber's Bortoleto ahead of Mercedes' Russell and Alpine's Gasly and Williams' Sainz.
