Lando Norris Edges Out Oscar Piastri in Sao Paulo Practice
Lando Norris has outscored Oscar Piastri at each of the previous five grands prix.
The McLaren driver edged out fellow driver and championship contender Oscar Piastri for the quickest lap in the closing stages of the practice session at the Brazilian Grand Prix.
The British racer, who grabbed the championship lead from Piastri by a single point after taking the win in Mexico City recently, beat the Melbourne-born driver by a tiny margin of 0.023secs.
Until that point, Oscar Piastri had been the leading McLaren for most of the session before sprint qualifying set to begin at the evening session.
The Red Bull star, the only other driver in realistic title contention, sitting 36 points behind behind Norris, finished in 17th position as his Red Bull team opted for a unique setup.
His teammate Yuki Tsunoda was the sole competitor to have an incident, though minor, when he spun at the fourth corner soon after starting.
Tsunoda lost control over the curbs on exit before sliding over the run-off area, and was lucky to avoid just a slight brush of the barrier.
The Ferrari of the seven-time champion also spun, at the very end of the practice, turning around through the quick descending Mergulho corner before the last turn on to the start-finish straight.
The veteran finished practice in 19th, just behind teammate the Monegasque driver.
The McLaren pair were well clear of the remaining drivers, with Nico Hulkenberg's car P3, 0.619 seconds behind Piastri's best.
The Aston Martin of Fernando Alonso was in fourth, with the Sauber of Gabriel Bortoleto in front of the Mercedes of George Russell and the Alpine of Pierre Gasly and the Williams of Carlos Sainz.
