Lando Norris Edges Out Piastri in Sao Paulo Practice Session
Lando Norris has outscored Oscar Piastri at each of the last five race weekends.
Lando Norris edged out fellow driver and title rival the Australian for the fastest time in the closing stages of practice at the Sao Paulo Grand Prix.
Norris, who seized the points lead from his teammate by one point after winning in Mexico City two weeks ago, topped the Melbourne-born driver by a mere 0.023s.
Before then, Oscar Piastri had been the quickest of the McLaren pair for most of the session before sprint qualifying set to begin at 6:30 PM GMT.
Max Verstappen, the only other driver in realistic title contention, trailing 36 points behind behind Norris, ended up in 17th position as his team ran a different programme.
His teammate the Japanese driver was the only driver to have an incident, though minor, when he spun at Turn Four early in the session.
The Japanese lost control over the track edges before sliding over the escape zone, and was blessed to escape with just a minor contact of the fence.
Ferrari's Lewis Hamilton also lost it, at the final moments of the practice, rotating twice through the quick descending Mergulho turn before the final bend on to the pit straight.
The veteran wrapped up in 19th place, one place behind team-mate Charles Leclerc.
The McLaren drivers were well clear of the rest of the field, with the German's Sauber third fastest, 0.619 seconds behind the Australian's time.
Aston Martin's the Spanish driver was fourth quickest, with Sauber's Bortoleto fifth from the Mercedes of Russell and the Alpine of Pierre Gasly and the Williams of Carlos Sainz.
