Lando Norris Tops Piastri in Brazilian Practice
The British driver has outperformed Oscar Piastri at all of the last five race weekends.
Lando Norris edged out fellow driver and championship contender Oscar Piastri for the top spot in the final moments of the practice session at the Brazilian Grand Prix.
The British racer, who seized the points lead from Piastri by just one point after his victory in Mexico City recently, topped the Melbourne-born driver by a mere 0.023s.
Before then, Oscar Piastri had been the leading McLaren during the running before sprint qualifying set to begin at the evening session.
Max Verstappen, the only other driver in realistic title contention, lying with a 36-point deficit Norris, ended up in 17th position as his team opted for a different programme.
Verstappen's team-mate the Japanese driver was the only driver to crash, albeit lightly, when he rotated at Turn Four during the early running.
The Japanese slid over the track edges before rotating through the escape zone, and was fortunate to avoid just a minor contact of the wall.
Ferrari's the seven-time champion also spun, at the very end of the practice, turning around through the fast downhill Mergulho corner leading to the final corner on to the start-finish straight.
The seven-time champion finished practice in P19, one place behind teammate the Monegasque driver.
Norris and Piastri were far ahead of the remaining drivers, with the German's car P3, over half a second slower than Piastri's best.
Aston Martin's the Spanish driver was fourth fastest, with Sauber's Bortoleto ahead of Mercedes' George Russell and the Alpine of Gasly and the Williams of Sainz.
