Lando Norris Leads Piastri in Brazilian Practice Session
The British driver has outperformed Oscar Piastri at each of the previous five grands prix.
Lando Norris edged out fellow driver and title rival Oscar Piastri for the top spot in the dying seconds of the practice session at the Sao Paulo Grand Prix.
Norris, who took the title advantage from Piastri by just one point after his victory in the Mexican Grand Prix a fortnight back, outpaced the Melbourne-born driver by a mere 0.023s.
Until that point, Piastri had been the quickest of the McLaren pair throughout the hour before sprint qualifying due at the evening session.
Max Verstappen, the sole remaining contender in realistic title contention, trailing 36 points Norris, was classified in P17 as his team ran a different programme.
Verstappen's team-mate the Japanese driver was the only driver to have an incident, albeit lightly, when he spun at corner four soon after starting.
The Japanese lost control over the track edges before spinning across the gravel trap, and was blessed to escape with just a light touch of the fence.
Ferrari's Lewis Hamilton also lost it, at the final moments of the practice, spinning around through the quick descending Mergulho turn before the final bend on to the main straight.
Hamilton ended the session in 19th place, one place behind teammate the Monegasque driver.
Norris and Piastri were far ahead of the rest of the field, with Nico Hulkenberg's Sauber P3, over half a second slower than the Australian's time.
Aston Martin's the Spanish driver was fourth quickest, with Sauber's Gabriel Bortoleto in front of the Mercedes of Russell and Alpine's Gasly and the Williams of Carlos Sainz.
