Lando Norris Tops Oscar Piastri in Brazilian Practice
The British driver 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 fastest time in the final moments of practice at the Sao Paulo Grand Prix.
Norris, who seized the points lead from Piastri by a single point after his victory in the Mexican Grand Prix recently, beat the Melbourne-born driver by a mere 0.023s.
Until that point, Piastri had been the fastest McLaren driver during the running before sprint qualifying scheduled for 6:30 PM GMT.
Max Verstappen, the sole remaining contender in realistic title contention, trailing 36 points behind behind Norris, finished in 17th position as his team ran a alternative strategy.
Verstappen's team-mate Yuki Tsunoda was the sole competitor to go off, though minor, when he lost control at corner four during the early running.
The Japanese slid over the exit kerbs before rotating through the run-off area, and was fortunate to get away with just a slight brush of the fence.
Ferrari's the seven-time champion also had a spin, at the very end of the session, rotating twice through the high-speed Mergulho corner leading to the last turn on to the pit straight.
The seven-time champion finished practice in P19, trailing teammate Charles Leclerc.
The McLaren drivers were well clear of the rest of the field, with Nico Hulkenberg's car third fastest, 0.619secs off Piastri's pace.
The Aston Martin of Fernando Alonso was in fourth, with the Sauber of Gabriel Bortoleto in front of Mercedes' Russell and the Alpine of Gasly and the Williams of Carlos Sainz.
