Norris Edges Out Piastri in Sao Paulo Practice Session
Lando Norris has outperformed Oscar Piastri at all of the last five grands prix.
The McLaren driver narrowly beat fellow driver and championship contender the Australian for the fastest time in the dying seconds of the practice session at the Brazilian Grand Prix.
Norris, who grabbed the championship lead from Piastri by a single point after taking the win in the Mexican Grand Prix recently, outpaced the Australian by a mere 0.023s.
Before then, Oscar Piastri had been the fastest McLaren driver during the running before sprint qualifying due at 6:30 PM GMT.
The Red Bull star, the sole remaining contender in the championship fight, lying with a 36-point deficit behind Norris, finished in P17 as his team opted for a alternative strategy.
His teammate Yuki Tsunoda was the sole competitor to go off, if briefly, when he spun at the fourth corner early in the session.
The Japanese spun out over the exit kerbs before spinning across the run-off area, and was lucky to escape with just a minor contact of the barrier.
The Ferrari of Lewis Hamilton also spun, at the final moments of the session, rotating twice through the fast downhill Mergulho corner approaching the final corner on to the pit straight.
Hamilton wrapped up in 19th place, one place behind team-mate Charles Leclerc.
The McLaren drivers were significantly quicker of the rest of the field, with the German's car P3, 0.619secs off Piastri's best.
Aston Martin's Fernando Alonso was fourth fastest, with the Sauber of Bortoleto in front of Mercedes' Russell and Alpine's Gasly and Williams' Sainz.
