Lando Norris Tops Piastri in Sao Paulo Practice Session
Lando Norris has outscored Oscar Piastri at all of the previous five grands prix.
The McLaren driver just pipped team-mate and championship contender the Australian for the top spot in the closing stages of the practice session at the Sao Paulo Grand Prix.
The British racer, who took the title advantage from his teammate by just one point after taking the win in the Mexican Grand Prix recently, outpaced the Australian by a mere 0.023s.
Before then, 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 only other driver in the points battle, sitting 36 points behind behind Norris, ended up in P17 as his team opted for a unique setup.
His teammate the Japanese driver was the sole competitor to go off, though minor, when he spun at Turn Four soon after starting.
The Japanese spun out over the exit kerbs before rotating through the run-off area, and was lucky to avoid just a minor contact of the barrier.
Ferrari's Lewis Hamilton also lost it, at the final moments of the practice, rotating twice through the quick descending Mergulho corner leading to the final bend on to the start-finish straight.
The veteran finished practice in 19th, one place behind team-mate the Monegasque driver.
Norris and Piastri were far ahead of the rest of the field, with the German's Sauber third fastest, 0.619 seconds behind Piastri's best.
Aston Martin's Fernando Alonso was fourth fastest, with Sauber's Bortoleto fifth from Mercedes' George Russell and Alpine's Gasly and Williams' Carlos Sainz.
