Lando Norris Tops Oscar Piastri in Brazilian Practice Session
Lando Norris has outperformed Oscar Piastri at each of the last five grands prix.
The McLaren driver just pipped team-mate and championship contender the Australian for the quickest lap in the dying seconds of the practice session at the Sao Paulo Grand Prix.
The British racer, who took the points lead from Piastri by just one point after winning in Mexico City recently, outpaced the Australian by 0.023 seconds.
Before then, Oscar Piastri had been the leading McLaren for most of the session before the sprint shootout due at the evening session.
The Red Bull star, the sole remaining contender in realistic title contention, sitting 36 points behind Norris, was classified in 17th position as his Red Bull team followed a different programme.
Verstappen's team-mate Yuki Tsunoda was the sole competitor to go off, albeit lightly, when he spun at Turn Four soon after starting.
Tsunoda lost control over the track edges before rotating through the escape zone, and was fortunate to avoid just a light touch of the wall.
The Ferrari of Lewis Hamilton also had a spin, at the final moments of the session, turning around through the fast downhill Mergulho corner approaching the final corner on to the pit straight.
The veteran wrapped up in 19th, one place behind team-mate the Monegasque driver.
The McLaren pair were far ahead of the remaining drivers, with Nico Hulkenberg's car P3, 0.619secs slower than Piastri's pace.
The Aston Martin of Fernando Alonso was fourth fastest, with the Sauber of Bortoleto ahead of Mercedes' George Russell and Alpine's Pierre Gasly and Williams' Carlos Sainz.
