Lando Norris Edges Out Oscar Piastri in Sao Paulo Practice
Lando Norris has beaten Oscar Piastri at each of the previous five grands prix.
The McLaren driver narrowly beat fellow driver and championship contender the Australian for the fastest time in the dying seconds of practice at the Brazilian Grand Prix.
Norris, who grabbed the championship lead from his teammate by one point after his victory in Mexico City two weeks ago, topped the Australian by 0.023 seconds.
Before then, Oscar Piastri had been the quickest of the McLaren pair during the running before sprint qualifying set to begin at the evening session.
Max Verstappen, the sole remaining contender in the championship fight, trailing with a 36-point deficit Norris, was classified in P17 as his Red Bull team opted for a unique setup.
His teammate Yuki Tsunoda was the sole competitor 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 spinning across the escape zone, and was fortunate to avoid just a slight brush of the fence.
Ferrari's the seven-time champion also spun, at the very end of the session, rotating twice through the high-speed corner approaching the final bend on to the pit straight.
The seven-time champion wrapped up in 19th, one place behind teammate Charles Leclerc.
The McLaren drivers were significantly quicker of the rest of the field, with Nico Hulkenberg's car P3, over half a second behind the Australian's time.
Aston Martin's Fernando Alonso was fourth fastest, with Sauber's Gabriel Bortoleto in front of the Mercedes of George Russell and Alpine's Pierre Gasly and the Williams of Carlos Sainz.
