Norris Tops Oscar Piastri in Sao Paulo Practice
Lando Norris has outperformed Oscar Piastri at all of the last five race weekends.
Lando Norris narrowly beat team-mate and title rival Oscar Piastri for the fastest time in the final moments of practice at the Sao Paulo Grand Prix.
The British racer, who seized the championship lead from his teammate by one point after taking the win in the Mexican Grand Prix two weeks ago, beat the Melbourne-born driver by a tiny margin of 0.023secs.
Earlier in the session, Piastri had been the quickest of the McLaren pair throughout the hour before sprint qualifying set to begin at 6:30 PM GMT.
Max Verstappen, the sole remaining contender in realistic title contention, trailing 36 points Norris, was classified in 17th place as his team opted for a different programme.
His teammate the Japanese driver was the sole competitor to crash, though minor, when he spun at Turn Four soon after starting.
Tsunoda lost control over the curbs on exit before rotating through the run-off area, and was blessed to escape with just a minor contact of the wall.
The Ferrari of the seven-time champion also had a spin, at the conclusion of the session, rotating twice through the quick descending Mergulho corner before the final bend on to the pit straight.
The seven-time champion finished practice in 19th, one place behind team-mate Charles Leclerc.
Norris and Piastri were far ahead of the rest of the field, with the German's car in third, 0.619secs off Piastri's best.
Aston Martin's the Spanish driver was fourth quickest, with Sauber's Gabriel Bortoleto fifth from the Mercedes of Russell and the Alpine of Gasly and Williams' Carlos Sainz.
