Lando Norris Edges Out Piastri in Brazilian Practice Session
Lando Norris has outscored Oscar Piastri at each of the previous five grands prix.
The McLaren driver edged out team-mate and title rival Oscar Piastri for the fastest time in the final moments of the practice session at the Sao Paulo Grand Prix.
Norris, who grabbed the points lead from his teammate by just one point after taking the win in the Mexican Grand Prix recently, topped the Australian by a tiny margin of 0.023secs.
Earlier in the session, Oscar Piastri had been the leading McLaren throughout the hour before the sprint shootout scheduled for 6:30 PM GMT.
Max Verstappen, the only other driver in realistic title contention, trailing 36 points behind Norris, ended up in 17th place as his Red Bull team ran a different programme.
Verstappen's team-mate the Japanese driver was the only driver to crash, though minor, when he rotated at corner four soon after starting.
The Japanese slid over the track edges before sliding over the escape zone, and was fortunate to avoid just a slight brush of the fence.
Ferrari's Lewis Hamilton also lost it, at the conclusion of the practice, spinning around through the quick descending corner before the final corner on to the start-finish straight.
Hamilton finished practice in 19th place, one place behind team-mate the Monegasque driver.
The McLaren drivers were well clear of the remaining drivers, with the German's Sauber P3, 0.619secs off Piastri's best.
The Aston Martin of the Spanish driver was fourth quickest, with Sauber's Bortoleto ahead of Mercedes' Russell and Alpine's Pierre Gasly and the Williams of Carlos Sainz.
