Norris Edges Out Oscar Piastri in Brazilian Practice
Lando Norris has beaten Oscar Piastri at each of the past five race weekends.
The McLaren driver narrowly beat team-mate and championship contender the Australian for the quickest lap in the closing stages of practice at the Brazilian Grand Prix.
Norris, who seized the points lead from Piastri by one point after winning in Mexico City two weeks ago, beat the Melbourne-born driver by a mere 0.023s.
Until that point, Oscar Piastri had been the quickest of the McLaren pair throughout the hour before sprint qualifying scheduled for 6:30 PM GMT.
The Red Bull star, the other racer in the championship fight, trailing 36 points behind Norris, was classified in P17 as his team followed a different programme.
His teammate Yuki Tsunoda was the sole competitor to have an incident, if briefly, when he lost control at Turn Four early in the session.
Tsunoda lost control over the exit kerbs before sliding over the gravel trap, and was blessed to get away with just a slight brush of the wall.
The Ferrari of Lewis Hamilton also lost it, at the very end of the practice, spinning around through the high-speed Mergulho turn approaching the final bend on to the start-finish straight.
The seven-time champion ended the session in 19th, trailing team-mate the Monegasque driver.
The McLaren drivers were well clear of the remaining drivers, with the German's Sauber in third, 0.619 seconds behind Piastri's best.
Aston Martin's Fernando Alonso was fourth fastest, with Sauber's Gabriel Bortoleto in front of the Mercedes of Russell and Alpine's Gasly and the Williams of Sainz.
