Lando Norris Edges Out Oscar Piastri in Sao Paulo Practice
Lando Norris has outperformed his teammate at each of the last five race weekends.
Lando Norris just pipped fellow driver and championship contender Oscar Piastri for the top spot in the closing stages of the practice session at the Brazilian Grand Prix.
The British racer, who seized the points lead from his teammate by just one point after taking the win in the Mexican Grand Prix two weeks ago, topped the Melbourne-born driver by 0.023 seconds.
Earlier in the session, Piastri had been the quickest of the McLaren pair throughout the hour before sprint qualifying scheduled for the evening session.
Max Verstappen, the sole remaining contender in realistic title contention, trailing 36 points behind Norris, finished in P17 as his Red Bull team followed a different programme.
Verstappen's team-mate the Japanese driver was the sole competitor to have an incident, albeit lightly, when he rotated at corner four soon after starting.
Tsunoda lost control over the exit kerbs before spinning across the gravel trap, and was blessed to escape with just a slight brush of the barrier.
Ferrari's the seven-time champion also lost it, at the very end of the practice, rotating twice through the fast downhill Mergulho turn before the final bend on to the start-finish straight.
The veteran wrapped up in 19th place, one place behind teammate the Monegasque driver.
The McLaren drivers were well clear of the rest of the field, with the German's car P3, 0.619 seconds behind Piastri's best.
The Aston Martin of Fernando Alonso was in fourth, with Sauber's Bortoleto fifth from the Mercedes of George Russell and Alpine's Pierre Gasly and the Williams of Sainz.
