Lando Norris Tops Piastri in Brazilian Practice
Lando Norris has outscored Oscar Piastri at all of the last five race weekends.
The McLaren driver narrowly beat fellow driver and championship contender Oscar Piastri for the quickest lap in the closing stages of practice at the Sao Paulo Grand Prix.
Norris, who took the points lead from Piastri by just one point after taking the win in Mexico City two weeks ago, topped the Australian by 0.023 seconds.
Earlier in the session, Oscar Piastri had been the fastest McLaren driver for most of the session before the sprint shootout set to begin at the evening session.
Max Verstappen, the sole remaining contender in the points battle, lying with a 36-point deficit behind Norris, was classified in 17th position as his team ran a unique setup.
Verstappen's team-mate Yuki Tsunoda was the sole competitor to go off, albeit lightly, when he spun at Turn Four soon after starting.
The Japanese lost control over the curbs on exit before rotating through the escape zone, and was blessed to avoid just a light touch of the fence.
Ferrari's the seven-time champion also spun, at the very end of the practice, turning around through the high-speed corner leading to the final bend on to the start-finish straight.
The veteran finished practice in P19, just behind teammate Charles Leclerc.
The McLaren pair were significantly quicker of the rest of the field, with Nico Hulkenberg's Sauber third fastest, over half a second slower than the Australian's time.
The Aston Martin of Fernando Alonso was fourth fastest, with the Sauber of Gabriel Bortoleto fifth from Mercedes' Russell and the Alpine of Gasly and the Williams of Carlos Sainz.
