Lando Norris Edges Out Oscar Piastri in Sao Paulo Practice Session
The British driver has outscored Oscar Piastri at each of the last five grands prix.
Lando Norris narrowly beat fellow driver and championship contender Oscar Piastri for the fastest time in the final moments of practice at the Brazilian Grand Prix.
Norris, who grabbed the title advantage from Piastri by a single point after taking the win in Mexico City two weeks ago, topped the Australian by a tiny margin of 0.023secs.
Until that point, Oscar Piastri had been the quickest of the McLaren pair during the running before sprint qualifying set to begin at 6:30 PM GMT.
The Red Bull star, the only other driver in realistic title contention, lying with a 36-point deficit Norris, was classified in 17th place as his Red Bull team followed a unique setup.
His teammate Yuki Tsunoda was the sole competitor to go off, albeit lightly, when he lost control at the fourth corner soon after starting.
The Japanese slid over the track edges before sliding over the escape zone, and was fortunate to avoid just a minor contact of the fence.
The Ferrari of Lewis Hamilton also spun, at the conclusion of the session, rotating twice through the high-speed Mergulho corner leading to the final corner on to the start-finish straight.
The seven-time champion ended the session in P19, one place behind teammate Charles Leclerc.
The McLaren drivers were well clear of the remaining drivers, with the German's Sauber P3, 0.619 seconds slower than Piastri's pace.
The Aston Martin of Fernando Alonso was in fourth, with the Sauber of Bortoleto fifth from Mercedes' George Russell and Alpine's Pierre Gasly and the Williams of Carlos Sainz.
