Lando Norris Edges Out Oscar Piastri in Sao Paulo Practice
Lando Norris has outscored Oscar Piastri at each of the last five grands prix.
Lando Norris just pipped team-mate 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 grabbed the championship lead from his teammate by just one point after taking the win in Mexico City recently, outpaced the Melbourne-born driver by 0.023 seconds.
Before then, Oscar Piastri had been the quickest of the McLaren pair during the running before the sprint shootout scheduled for 6:30 PM GMT.
Max Verstappen, the only other driver in the points battle, lying with a 36-point deficit behind Norris, finished in 17th place as his team opted for a alternative strategy.
His teammate the Japanese driver was the only driver to have an incident, though minor, when he rotated at Turn Four during the early running.
The Japanese slid over the exit kerbs before spinning across the escape zone, and was blessed to avoid just a minor contact of the fence.
The Ferrari of the seven-time champion also had a spin, at the conclusion of the session, spinning around through the fast downhill corner leading to the final corner on to the start-finish straight.
The seven-time champion wrapped up in 19th place, one place behind team-mate the Monegasque driver.
Norris and Piastri were far ahead of the remaining drivers, with the German's Sauber third fastest, 0.619secs off the Australian's time.
The Aston Martin of the Spanish driver was fourth quickest, with the Sauber of Bortoleto ahead of the Mercedes of George Russell and Alpine's Pierre Gasly and Williams' Carlos Sainz.
