Norris Edges Out Piastri in Brazilian Practice
Lando Norris has outscored Oscar Piastri at all of the past five grands prix.
Lando Norris edged out team-mate and title rival the Australian for the top spot in the final moments of the practice session at the Brazilian Grand Prix.
The British racer, who grabbed the championship lead from his teammate by a single point after winning in Mexico City a fortnight back, beat the Melbourne-born driver by a mere 0.023s.
Before then, Piastri had been the leading McLaren throughout the hour before the sprint shootout scheduled for the evening session.
Max Verstappen, the other racer in the championship fight, trailing with a 36-point deficit behind Norris, finished in 17th position as his Red Bull team ran a different programme.
His teammate the Japanese driver was the sole competitor to crash, albeit lightly, when he rotated at corner four early in the session.
The Japanese lost control over the curbs on exit before spinning across the run-off area, and was fortunate to avoid just a light touch of the fence.
Ferrari's Lewis Hamilton also lost it, at the conclusion of the session, rotating twice through the high-speed corner leading to the final corner on to the start-finish straight.
The seven-time champion finished practice in 19th place, just behind team-mate the Monegasque driver.
The McLaren pair were significantly quicker of the other competitors, with the German's Sauber P3, 0.619secs slower than the Australian's time.
The Aston Martin of the Spanish driver was fourth fastest, with the Sauber of Bortoleto ahead of Mercedes' George Russell and the Alpine of Gasly and the Williams of Sainz.
