Lando Norris Tops Piastri in Brazilian Practice Session
Lando Norris has beaten Oscar Piastri at all of the last five race weekends.
The McLaren driver just pipped team-mate and championship contender the Australian for the quickest lap in the closing stages of the practice session at the Sao Paulo Grand Prix.
Norris, who took the championship lead from Piastri by one point after his victory in Mexico City recently, beat the Melbourne-born driver by a mere 0.023s.
Earlier in the session, Oscar Piastri had been the fastest McLaren driver for most of the session before sprint qualifying set to begin at 6:30 PM GMT.
Max Verstappen, the sole remaining contender in the points battle, trailing 36 points behind behind Norris, ended up in 17th place as his team followed a different programme.
Verstappen's team-mate Yuki Tsunoda was the only driver to crash, albeit lightly, when he spun at Turn Four early in the session.
The Japanese slid over the exit kerbs before spinning across the run-off area, and was fortunate to get away with just a light touch of the barrier.
Ferrari's Lewis Hamilton also had a spin, at the final moments of the session, spinning around through the quick descending Mergulho corner before the last turn on to the pit straight.
The veteran wrapped up in 19th place, one place behind teammate the Monegasque driver.
The McLaren drivers were well clear of the remaining drivers, with Nico Hulkenberg's car third fastest, over half a second off Piastri's pace.
The Aston Martin of Fernando Alonso was fourth fastest, with the Sauber of Gabriel Bortoleto fifth from the Mercedes of George Russell and Alpine's Pierre Gasly and the Williams of Carlos Sainz.
