Lando Norris Leads Oscar Piastri in Sao Paulo Practice
Lando Norris has outscored Oscar Piastri at all of the previous five race weekends.
Lando Norris just pipped fellow driver and title rival Oscar Piastri for the quickest lap in the final moments of practice at the Sao Paulo Grand Prix.
Norris, who seized the championship lead from his teammate by a single point after taking the win in Mexico City recently, topped the Melbourne-born driver by 0.023 seconds.
Before then, Oscar Piastri had been the quickest of the McLaren pair for most of the session before sprint qualifying set to begin at the evening session.
Max Verstappen, the sole remaining contender in realistic title contention, lying 36 points behind Norris, finished in 17th position as his Red Bull team followed a unique setup.
Verstappen's team-mate Yuki Tsunoda was the only driver to crash, albeit lightly, when he spun at Turn Four during the early running.
Tsunoda slid over the curbs on exit before sliding over the run-off area, and was fortunate to get away with just a minor contact of the fence.
Ferrari's the seven-time champion also lost it, at the very end of the practice, rotating twice through the high-speed Mergulho turn before the final corner on to the main straight.
The seven-time champion wrapped up in P19, just behind team-mate the Monegasque driver.
Norris and Piastri were far ahead of the other competitors, with Nico Hulkenberg's Sauber in third, 0.619 seconds off the Australian's time.
Aston Martin's the Spanish driver was in fourth, with the Sauber of Gabriel Bortoleto fifth from the Mercedes of Russell and Alpine's Pierre Gasly and the Williams of Carlos Sainz.
