Norris Edges Out Piastri in Brazilian Practice
Lando Norris has outscored his teammate at all of the last five grands prix.
Lando Norris narrowly beat fellow driver and title rival Oscar Piastri for the quickest lap in the final moments of practice at the Sao Paulo Grand Prix.
Norris, who grabbed the championship lead from Piastri by a single point after winning in Mexico City recently, topped the Melbourne-born driver by a mere 0.023s.
Until that point, Piastri had been the quickest of the McLaren pair for most of the session before sprint qualifying set to begin at 6:30 PM GMT.
Max Verstappen, the other racer in the points battle, sitting 36 points behind Norris, ended up in P17 as his team opted for a unique setup.
His teammate Yuki Tsunoda was the sole competitor to go off, if briefly, when he rotated at corner four during the early running.
Tsunoda slid over the curbs on exit before spinning across the run-off area, and was fortunate to get away with just a light touch of the fence.
Ferrari's Lewis Hamilton also had a spin, at the very end of the session, spinning around through the quick descending Mergulho turn leading to the last turn on to the start-finish straight.
The veteran wrapped up in P19, trailing teammate the Monegasque driver.
The McLaren pair were well clear of the other competitors, with Nico Hulkenberg's Sauber in third, over half a second slower than the Australian's time.
The Aston Martin of Fernando Alonso was fourth quickest, with Sauber's Gabriel Bortoleto in front of Mercedes' George Russell and the Alpine of Pierre Gasly and Williams' Sainz.
