Norris Tops Oscar Piastri in Brazilian Practice
Lando Norris has outperformed Oscar Piastri at each of the last five race weekends.
Lando Norris narrowly beat fellow driver and championship contender the Australian for the fastest time in the closing stages of practice at the Sao Paulo Grand Prix.
The British racer, who took the title advantage from his teammate by a single point after taking the win in Mexico City two weeks ago, beat the Melbourne-born driver by a tiny margin of 0.023secs.
Until that point, Piastri had been the fastest McLaren driver throughout the hour before sprint qualifying scheduled for 6:30 PM GMT.
Max Verstappen, the other racer in realistic title contention, lying with a 36-point deficit Norris, finished in 17th position as his Red Bull team ran a alternative strategy.
His teammate the Japanese driver was the only driver to crash, if briefly, when he rotated at Turn Four soon after starting.
Tsunoda slid over the curbs on exit before sliding over the gravel trap, and was lucky to escape with just a light touch of the fence.
The Ferrari of Lewis Hamilton also spun, at the conclusion of the practice, rotating twice through the high-speed Mergulho turn approaching the last turn on to the main straight.
The seven-time champion ended the session in P19, trailing teammate the Monegasque driver.
The McLaren pair were well clear of the other competitors, with Nico Hulkenberg's car in third, 0.619secs behind Piastri's best.
Aston Martin's Fernando Alonso was fourth fastest, with the Sauber of Bortoleto in front of Mercedes' Russell and the Alpine of Pierre Gasly and the Williams of Carlos Sainz.
