Norris Tops Oscar Piastri in Sao Paulo Practice Session
Lando Norris has outperformed his teammate at each of the last five grands prix.
Lando Norris narrowly beat fellow driver and championship contender the Australian for the quickest lap in the dying seconds of the practice session at the Sao Paulo Grand Prix.
The British racer, who seized the championship lead from Piastri by just one point after taking the win in Mexico City recently, beat the Australian by a tiny margin of 0.023secs.
Earlier in the session, Piastri had been the fastest McLaren driver during the running before the sprint shootout due at 6:30 PM GMT.
The Red Bull star, the other racer in the points battle, trailing 36 points behind Norris, finished in P17 as his team followed a alternative strategy.
Verstappen's team-mate Yuki Tsunoda was the only driver to go off, if briefly, when he spun at corner four soon after starting.
Tsunoda slid over the exit kerbs before rotating through the gravel trap, and was lucky to escape with just a light touch of the fence.
The Ferrari of Lewis Hamilton also had a spin, at the conclusion of the session, spinning around through the fast downhill Mergulho corner before the final bend on to the pit straight.
Hamilton wrapped up in P19, just behind teammate Charles Leclerc.
The McLaren pair were far ahead of the other competitors, with the German's car in third, over half a second slower than Piastri's pace.
Aston Martin's the Spanish driver was in fourth, with Sauber's Gabriel Bortoleto ahead of Mercedes' Russell and Alpine's Gasly and Williams' Sainz.
