Lando Norris Edges Out Oscar Piastri in Brazilian Practice
Lando Norris has outperformed his teammate at all of the last five race weekends.
Lando Norris just pipped fellow driver and title rival the Australian for the quickest lap in the final moments of the practice session at the Sao Paulo Grand Prix.
The British racer, who took the championship lead from his teammate by a single point after taking the win in Mexico City a fortnight back, beat the Melbourne-born driver by a mere 0.023s.
Earlier in the session, Piastri had been the leading McLaren during the running before the sprint shootout set to begin at 18:30 GMT.
Max Verstappen, the only other driver in realistic title contention, sitting 36 points behind Norris, finished in P17 as his team opted for a unique setup.
His teammate Yuki Tsunoda was the only driver to have an incident, if briefly, when he lost control at the fourth corner soon after starting.
Tsunoda lost control over the exit kerbs before spinning across the run-off area, and was blessed to escape with just a light touch of the wall.
The Ferrari of Lewis Hamilton also had a spin, at the final moments of the session, turning around through the high-speed Mergulho turn approaching the final bend on to the pit straight.
The veteran ended the session in P19, trailing teammate Charles Leclerc.
Norris and Piastri were well clear of the remaining drivers, with the German's Sauber third fastest, 0.619secs off Piastri's pace.
The Aston Martin of the Spanish driver was fourth fastest, with the Sauber of Gabriel Bortoleto ahead of Mercedes' Russell and Alpine's Gasly and Williams' Sainz.
