Lando Norris Edges Out Oscar Piastri in Sao Paulo Practice
Lando Norris has outperformed Oscar Piastri at all of the previous five grands prix.
The McLaren driver just pipped fellow driver and championship contender Oscar Piastri for the quickest lap in the final moments of practice at the Brazilian Grand Prix.
Norris, who grabbed the points lead from Piastri by one point after taking the win in Mexico City two weeks ago, beat the Melbourne-born driver by 0.023 seconds.
Before then, Piastri had been the fastest McLaren driver for most of the session before sprint qualifying due at the evening session.
The Red Bull star, the other racer in the points battle, trailing 36 points behind behind Norris, finished in P17 as his Red Bull team followed a unique setup.
His teammate the Japanese driver was the sole competitor to crash, if briefly, when he rotated at corner four early in the session.
Tsunoda lost control over the exit kerbs before rotating through the escape zone, and was blessed to avoid just a light touch of the fence.
Ferrari's Lewis Hamilton also spun, at the very end of the session, turning around through the high-speed Mergulho corner before the last turn on to the pit straight.
The veteran ended the session in 19th place, just behind teammate Charles Leclerc.
The McLaren pair were significantly quicker of the remaining drivers, with the German's car in third, over half a second behind Piastri's best.
The Aston Martin of Fernando Alonso was in fourth, with Sauber's Bortoleto ahead of Mercedes' Russell and Alpine's Gasly and Williams' Sainz.
