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 fellow driver and title rival Oscar Piastri for the top spot in the closing stages of practice at the Brazilian Grand Prix.
Norris, who took the championship lead from Piastri by just one point after taking the win in the Mexican Grand Prix a fortnight back, outpaced the Australian by a mere 0.023s.
Until that point, Piastri had been the quickest of the McLaren pair throughout the hour before sprint qualifying scheduled for the evening session.
Max Verstappen, the other racer in the points battle, trailing with a 36-point deficit behind Norris, finished in 17th position as his Red Bull team ran a different programme.
Verstappen's team-mate Yuki Tsunoda was the only driver to crash, if briefly, when he rotated at corner four soon after starting.
The Japanese spun out over the curbs on exit before sliding over the escape zone, and was lucky to escape with just a light touch of the fence.
Ferrari's Lewis Hamilton also spun, at the final moments of the session, turning around through the quick descending corner leading to the final bend on to the start-finish straight.
The veteran finished practice in P19, one place behind teammate the Monegasque driver.
The McLaren pair were well clear of the remaining drivers, with Nico Hulkenberg's car P3, 0.619secs slower than Piastri's best.
The Aston Martin of the Spanish driver was fourth fastest, with the Sauber of Gabriel Bortoleto ahead of Mercedes' George Russell and the Alpine of Gasly and the Williams of Sainz.
