Lando Norris Tops Oscar Piastri in Sao Paulo Practice Session
Lando Norris has outperformed Oscar Piastri at all of the past five grands prix.
Lando Norris just pipped fellow driver and title rival Oscar Piastri for the quickest lap in the dying seconds of the practice session at the Sao Paulo Grand Prix.
Norris, who seized the points lead from his teammate by just one point after taking the win in the Mexican Grand Prix recently, outpaced the Australian by 0.023 seconds.
Before then, Piastri had been the fastest McLaren driver for most of the session before sprint qualifying set to begin at the evening session.
Max Verstappen, the only other driver in the points battle, sitting with a 36-point deficit behind Norris, was classified in 17th position as his team followed a alternative strategy.
His teammate Yuki Tsunoda was the sole competitor to go off, though minor, when he rotated at corner four soon after starting.
The Japanese spun out over the curbs on exit before rotating through the run-off area, and was fortunate to escape with just a slight brush of the barrier.
Ferrari's the seven-time champion also had a spin, at the final moments of the practice, turning around through the high-speed Mergulho turn before the final corner on to the start-finish straight.
The seven-time champion finished practice in P19, one place behind team-mate the Monegasque driver.
Norris and Piastri were significantly quicker of the other competitors, with Nico Hulkenberg's Sauber P3, over half a second slower than Piastri's best.
Aston Martin's the Spanish driver was in fourth, with Sauber's Bortoleto in front of the Mercedes of Russell and the Alpine of Pierre Gasly and the Williams of Carlos Sainz.
