Lando Norris Edges Out Oscar Piastri in Brazilian Practice
Lando Norris has outscored Oscar Piastri at each of the past five race weekends.
Lando Norris just pipped fellow driver and championship contender the Australian 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 just one point after his victory in the Mexican Grand Prix two weeks ago, outpaced the Melbourne-born driver by a tiny margin of 0.023secs.
Until that point, Piastri had been the leading McLaren for most of the session before the sprint shootout set to begin at the evening session.
Max Verstappen, the sole remaining contender in the championship fight, lying 36 points Norris, was classified in 17th place as his Red Bull team followed a alternative strategy.
Verstappen's team-mate Yuki Tsunoda was the only driver to have an incident, though minor, when he lost control at Turn Four during the early running.
The Japanese spun out over the curbs on exit before rotating through the gravel trap, and was lucky to avoid just a light touch of the barrier.
Ferrari's the seven-time champion also spun, at the conclusion of the practice, spinning around through the quick descending corner leading to the last turn on to the pit straight.
The seven-time champion finished practice in P19, trailing team-mate Charles Leclerc.
Norris and Piastri were significantly quicker of the remaining drivers, with the German's car P3, 0.619secs off the Australian's time.
The Aston Martin of the Spanish driver was fourth quickest, with the Sauber of Bortoleto fifth from the Mercedes of Russell and the Alpine of Pierre Gasly and the Williams of Sainz.
