Lando Norris Edges Out Piastri in Sao Paulo Practice
Lando Norris has outperformed Oscar Piastri at all of the past five race weekends.
The McLaren driver just pipped fellow driver and championship contender the Australian for the top spot in the final moments of practice at the Sao Paulo Grand Prix.
Norris, who took the title advantage from his teammate by one point after his victory in Mexico City recently, beat the Melbourne-born driver by a tiny margin of 0.023secs.
Earlier in the session, Oscar Piastri had been the quickest of the McLaren pair throughout the hour before sprint qualifying scheduled for the evening session.
The Red Bull star, the sole remaining contender in realistic title contention, sitting with a 36-point deficit Norris, was classified in 17th place as his team followed a alternative strategy.
His teammate the Japanese driver was the sole competitor to have an incident, if briefly, when he rotated at the fourth corner early in the session.
The Japanese lost control over the curbs on exit before rotating through the gravel trap, and was lucky to escape with just a light touch of the wall.
The Ferrari of the seven-time champion also had a spin, at the very end of the practice, turning around through the high-speed corner leading to the final bend on to the main straight.
The seven-time champion finished practice in P19, one place behind teammate the Monegasque driver.
The McLaren pair were well clear of the other competitors, with the German's car in third, 0.619secs slower than Piastri's pace.
Aston Martin's the Spanish driver was fourth quickest, with Sauber's Bortoleto in front of Mercedes' George Russell and the Alpine of Pierre Gasly and Williams' Sainz.
