Lando Norris Tops Oscar Piastri in Brazilian Practice Session
Lando Norris has outscored Oscar Piastri at each of the past five grands prix.
Lando Norris edged out fellow driver and championship contender the Australian for the quickest lap in the final moments of practice at the Sao Paulo Grand Prix.
Norris, who took the title advantage from Piastri by a single point after his victory in Mexico City two weeks ago, topped the Australian by a mere 0.023s.
Before then, Oscar Piastri had been the leading McLaren for most of the session before the sprint shootout set to begin at 18:30 GMT.
The Red Bull star, the sole remaining contender in the points battle, lying with a 36-point deficit behind Norris, ended up in 17th place as his team opted for a alternative strategy.
His teammate Yuki Tsunoda was the only driver to have an incident, if briefly, when he rotated at corner four early in the session.
Tsunoda spun out over the curbs on exit before spinning across the escape zone, and was lucky to avoid just a light touch of the wall.
The Ferrari of Lewis Hamilton also spun, at the conclusion of the session, turning around through the high-speed corner approaching the last turn on to the start-finish straight.
The seven-time champion finished practice in P19, just behind team-mate Charles Leclerc.
The McLaren drivers were far ahead of the other competitors, with Nico Hulkenberg's Sauber third fastest, 0.619secs off Piastri's best.
The Aston Martin of the Spanish driver was fourth quickest, with Sauber's Gabriel Bortoleto ahead of Mercedes' Russell and Alpine's Pierre Gasly and the Williams of Sainz.
