Lando Norris Tops Oscar Piastri in Brazilian Practice
Lando Norris has outperformed Oscar Piastri at each of the last five grands prix.
Lando Norris just pipped fellow driver and championship contender the Australian for the quickest lap in the final moments of practice at the Sao Paulo Grand Prix.
The British racer, who took the championship lead from his teammate by just one point after his victory in Mexico City two weeks ago, topped the Australian by a tiny margin of 0.023secs.
Until that point, Piastri had been the leading McLaren during the running before sprint qualifying set to begin at the evening session.
Max Verstappen, the only other driver in the championship fight, trailing with a 36-point deficit Norris, finished in 17th position as his Red Bull team ran a different programme.
His teammate the Japanese driver was the sole competitor to have an incident, though minor, when he spun at Turn Four soon after starting.
Tsunoda slid over the track edges before spinning across the run-off area, and was blessed to get away with just a minor contact of the fence.
The Ferrari of the seven-time champion also spun, at the very end of the practice, turning around through the fast downhill Mergulho turn before the last turn on to the pit straight.
Hamilton finished practice in 19th place, trailing team-mate Charles Leclerc.
The McLaren drivers were far ahead of the rest of the field, with Nico Hulkenberg's car in third, 0.619secs slower than Piastri's best.
Aston Martin's Fernando Alonso was fourth fastest, with the Sauber of Gabriel Bortoleto in front of Mercedes' Russell and the Alpine of Gasly and Williams' Sainz.
