Lando Norris Edges Out Piastri in Brazilian Practice
The British driver has outperformed his teammate at all of the last five grands prix.
Lando Norris narrowly beat fellow driver and title rival Oscar Piastri for the top spot in the final moments of the practice session at the Brazilian Grand Prix.
The British racer, who took the points lead from his teammate by one point after his victory in Mexico City two weeks ago, topped the Australian by a tiny margin of 0.023secs.
Before then, Piastri had been the leading McLaren during the running before sprint qualifying scheduled for 6:30 PM GMT.
Max Verstappen, the only other driver in the championship fight, trailing 36 points behind behind Norris, ended up in 17th position as his team followed a different programme.
Verstappen's team-mate the Japanese driver was the sole competitor to have an incident, though minor, when he spun at the fourth corner soon after starting.
The Japanese slid over the curbs on exit before rotating through the escape zone, and was fortunate to get away with just a light touch of the fence.
Ferrari's the seven-time champion also spun, at the conclusion of the practice, turning around through the high-speed Mergulho corner before the final corner on to the main straight.
The veteran finished practice in 19th, just behind teammate the Monegasque driver.
Norris and Piastri were significantly quicker of the other competitors, with Nico Hulkenberg's car third fastest, 0.619secs off Piastri's pace.
Aston Martin's Fernando Alonso was fourth quickest, with the Sauber of Bortoleto in front of Mercedes' George Russell and the Alpine of Gasly and the Williams of Sainz.
