Norris Leads Oscar Piastri in Sao Paulo Practice
Lando Norris has outperformed Oscar Piastri at each of the past five grands prix.
The McLaren driver narrowly beat team-mate and championship contender Oscar Piastri for the fastest time in the dying seconds of practice at the Brazilian Grand Prix.
The British racer, who grabbed the points lead from his teammate by a single point after his victory in the Mexican Grand Prix a fortnight back, beat the Australian by a tiny margin of 0.023secs.
Earlier in the session, Oscar Piastri had been the leading McLaren throughout the hour before the sprint shootout due at the evening session.
Max Verstappen, the sole remaining contender in realistic title contention, trailing with a 36-point deficit behind Norris, was classified in P17 as his team followed a different programme.
His teammate the Japanese driver was the only driver to have an incident, if briefly, when he lost control at the fourth corner during the early running.
The Japanese lost control over the exit kerbs before spinning across the gravel trap, and was blessed to avoid just a slight brush of the wall.
The Ferrari of Lewis Hamilton also lost it, at the very end of the session, turning around through the quick descending Mergulho corner leading to the final corner on to the main straight.
The veteran finished practice in 19th, one place behind teammate the Monegasque driver.
The McLaren pair were well clear of the remaining drivers, with Nico Hulkenberg's Sauber P3, 0.619 seconds behind Piastri's pace.
The Aston Martin of the Spanish driver was fourth quickest, with Sauber's Bortoleto ahead of the Mercedes of George Russell and the Alpine of Gasly and the Williams of Carlos Sainz.
