Lando Norris Leads Oscar Piastri in Brazilian Practice
Lando Norris has outperformed his teammate at all of the past five grands prix.
Lando Norris narrowly beat team-mate and title rival the Australian for the fastest time in the final moments of practice at the Sao Paulo Grand Prix.
The British racer, who took the points lead from his teammate by a single point after taking the win in the Mexican Grand Prix two weeks ago, beat the Australian by a mere 0.023s.
Until that point, Oscar Piastri had been the fastest McLaren driver throughout the hour before sprint qualifying set to begin at 6:30 PM GMT.
Max Verstappen, the sole remaining contender in the points battle, lying 36 points behind Norris, was classified in 17th position as his team opted for a unique setup.
His teammate Yuki Tsunoda was the only driver to crash, though minor, when he spun at the fourth corner during the early running.
Tsunoda slid over the track edges before sliding over the run-off area, and was blessed to avoid just a slight brush of the barrier.
Ferrari's Lewis Hamilton also spun, at the conclusion of the session, turning around through the quick descending Mergulho turn before the last turn on to the pit straight.
The seven-time champion ended the session in 19th, one place behind teammate the Monegasque driver.
The McLaren pair were well clear of the remaining drivers, with Nico Hulkenberg's car in third, 0.619 seconds slower than Piastri's best.
The Aston Martin of Fernando Alonso was fourth fastest, with the Sauber of Gabriel Bortoleto in front of the Mercedes of George Russell and the Alpine of Gasly and Williams' Sainz.
