Norris Leads Piastri in Sao Paulo Practice Session
Lando Norris has outscored Oscar Piastri at all of the previous five grands prix.
The McLaren driver narrowly beat fellow driver and championship contender Oscar Piastri for the top spot in the final moments of the practice session at the Brazilian Grand Prix.
The British racer, who took the championship lead from his teammate by a single point after his victory in the Mexican Grand Prix a fortnight back, outpaced the Australian by a tiny margin of 0.023secs.
Until that point, Piastri had been the fastest McLaren driver during the running before sprint qualifying scheduled for 6:30 PM GMT.
Max Verstappen, the sole remaining contender in the championship fight, lying 36 points behind Norris, ended up in P17 as his team ran a alternative strategy.
His teammate Yuki Tsunoda was the only driver to go off, if briefly, when he lost control at Turn Four soon after starting.
The Japanese slid over the curbs on exit before rotating through the escape zone, and was blessed to escape with just a slight brush of the wall.
Ferrari's Lewis Hamilton also spun, at the conclusion of the session, rotating twice through the quick descending Mergulho corner leading to the final bend on to the start-finish straight.
The seven-time champion wrapped up in 19th, one place behind teammate Charles Leclerc.
The McLaren drivers were far ahead of the rest of the field, with the German's car third fastest, 0.619 seconds off Piastri's pace.
The Aston Martin of the Spanish driver was fourth quickest, with the Sauber of Bortoleto ahead of the Mercedes of George Russell and the Alpine of Gasly and Williams' Sainz.
