Norris Leads Oscar Piastri in Brazilian Practice
Lando Norris has outperformed his teammate at all of the past five grands prix.
Lando Norris just pipped fellow driver and championship contender Oscar Piastri for the quickest lap in the dying seconds of practice at the Brazilian Grand Prix.
The British racer, who grabbed the title advantage from his teammate by one point after his victory in the Mexican Grand Prix two weeks ago, topped the Australian by a mere 0.023s.
Earlier in the session, Oscar Piastri had been the fastest McLaren driver for most of the session before the sprint shootout set to begin at 18:30 GMT.
The Red Bull star, the other racer in the championship fight, trailing 36 points behind behind Norris, finished in P17 as his Red Bull team opted for a different programme.
His teammate Yuki Tsunoda was the sole competitor to crash, though minor, when he spun at corner four soon after starting.
The Japanese spun out over the curbs on exit before rotating through the run-off area, and was blessed to escape with just a minor contact of the barrier.
The Ferrari of Lewis Hamilton also spun, at the very end of the practice, turning around through the quick descending corner leading to the final bend on to the main straight.
Hamilton ended the session in 19th, just behind teammate the Monegasque driver.
The McLaren drivers were well clear of the remaining drivers, with the German's Sauber third fastest, over half a second off Piastri's best.
Aston Martin's Fernando Alonso was in fourth, with Sauber's Bortoleto ahead of Mercedes' Russell and the Alpine of Pierre Gasly and Williams' Carlos Sainz.
