Lando Norris Leads Piastri in Brazilian Practice Session
Lando Norris has outperformed Oscar Piastri at all of the past five race weekends.
Lando Norris narrowly beat team-mate and title rival Oscar Piastri for the top spot in the final moments of practice at the Brazilian Grand Prix.
The British racer, who seized the championship lead from Piastri by a single point after his victory in Mexico City two weeks ago, outpaced the Melbourne-born driver by 0.023 seconds.
Earlier in the session, Oscar Piastri had been the quickest of the McLaren pair for most of the session before the sprint shootout set to begin at the evening session.
Max Verstappen, the only other driver in the championship fight, trailing with a 36-point deficit Norris, was classified in 17th place as his Red Bull team followed a unique setup.
His teammate Yuki Tsunoda was the sole competitor to have an incident, albeit lightly, when he lost control at Turn Four during the early running.
The Japanese slid over the curbs on exit before sliding over the run-off area, and was blessed to get away with just a minor contact of the barrier.
Ferrari's the seven-time champion also lost it, at the conclusion of the session, rotating twice through the high-speed Mergulho turn approaching the last turn on to the pit straight.
The seven-time champion ended the session in 19th place, just behind teammate the Monegasque driver.
The McLaren drivers were significantly quicker of the remaining drivers, with Nico Hulkenberg's Sauber P3, 0.619secs behind Piastri's pace.
Aston Martin's Fernando Alonso was fourth quickest, with the Sauber of Gabriel Bortoleto fifth from Mercedes' George Russell and Alpine's Pierre Gasly and Williams' Carlos Sainz.
