Norris Tops Piastri in Sao Paulo Practice
Lando Norris has outperformed Oscar Piastri at all of the previous five race weekends.
The McLaren driver narrowly beat fellow driver and championship contender Oscar Piastri for the top spot in the final moments of practice at the Brazilian Grand Prix.
Norris, who seized the points lead from his teammate by just one point after his victory in Mexico City two weeks ago, outpaced the Melbourne-born driver by a tiny margin of 0.023secs.
Earlier in the session, Oscar Piastri had been the leading McLaren for most of the session before sprint qualifying due at the evening session.
The Red Bull star, the sole remaining contender in the championship fight, trailing with a 36-point deficit Norris, ended up in P17 as his Red Bull team followed a unique setup.
His teammate Yuki Tsunoda was the only driver to crash, albeit lightly, when he spun at the fourth corner during the early running.
Tsunoda slid over the track edges before sliding over the gravel trap, and was blessed to avoid just a minor contact of the fence.
The Ferrari of the seven-time champion also spun, at the conclusion of the session, spinning around through the quick descending corner leading to the last turn on to the main straight.
The veteran finished practice in 19th place, one place behind team-mate the Monegasque driver.
The McLaren pair were far ahead of the other competitors, with the German's Sauber P3, 0.619 seconds off Piastri's best.
The Aston Martin of the Spanish driver was fourth fastest, with the Sauber of Bortoleto fifth from the Mercedes of George Russell and Alpine's Gasly and the Williams of Carlos Sainz.
