Lando Norris Edges Out Piastri in Sao Paulo Practice
Lando Norris has outscored Oscar Piastri at each of the previous five race weekends.
Lando Norris just pipped fellow driver and championship contender the Australian for the quickest lap in the final moments of practice at the Sao Paulo Grand Prix.
The British racer, who grabbed the points lead from Piastri by a single point after winning in the Mexican Grand Prix recently, topped the Australian by 0.023 seconds.
Until that point, Oscar Piastri had been the leading McLaren during the running before the sprint shootout due at 6:30 PM GMT.
Max Verstappen, the sole remaining contender in the points battle, sitting with a 36-point deficit behind Norris, finished in P17 as his team opted for a unique setup.
His teammate Yuki Tsunoda was the sole competitor to have an incident, if briefly, when he spun at corner four during the early running.
Tsunoda slid over the curbs on exit before rotating through the escape zone, and was lucky to avoid just a minor contact of the fence.
The Ferrari of the seven-time champion also had a spin, at the final moments of the practice, turning around through the fast downhill corner leading to the final corner on to the pit straight.
The veteran finished practice in P19, just behind team-mate Charles Leclerc.
The McLaren drivers were far ahead of the other competitors, with the German's car third fastest, 0.619secs slower than the Australian's time.
The Aston Martin of Fernando Alonso was fourth quickest, with the Sauber of Bortoleto in front of the Mercedes of Russell and Alpine's Gasly and Williams' Carlos Sainz.
