Norris Edges Out Oscar Piastri in Sao Paulo Practice
Lando Norris has outperformed his teammate at each of the last five race weekends.
Lando Norris just pipped team-mate and championship contender Oscar Piastri for the top spot in the dying seconds of the practice session at the Brazilian Grand Prix.
The British racer, who grabbed the title advantage from his teammate by a single point after taking the win in the Mexican Grand Prix a fortnight back, beat the Melbourne-born driver by 0.023 seconds.
Until that point, Piastri had been the fastest McLaren driver for most of the session before sprint qualifying due at the evening session.
Max Verstappen, the other racer in realistic title contention, trailing 36 points behind behind Norris, was classified in P17 as his team followed a different programme.
His teammate the Japanese driver was the only driver to crash, though minor, when he spun at the fourth corner during the early running.
The Japanese slid over the curbs on exit before spinning across the gravel trap, and was fortunate to avoid just a light touch of the wall.
Ferrari's Lewis Hamilton also lost it, at the conclusion of the session, rotating twice through the fast downhill corner before the final corner on to the pit straight.
Hamilton finished practice in 19th, trailing team-mate the Monegasque driver.
Norris and Piastri were well clear of the rest of the field, with the German's car P3, 0.619secs slower than Piastri's best.
The Aston Martin of Fernando Alonso was fourth quickest, with the Sauber of Bortoleto ahead of the Mercedes of Russell and Alpine's Pierre Gasly and Williams' Carlos Sainz.
