Norris Tops Oscar Piastri in Sao Paulo Practice
The British driver has outperformed Oscar Piastri at all of the previous five grands prix.
Lando Norris edged out team-mate and title rival Oscar Piastri for the quickest lap in the final moments of the practice session at the Sao Paulo Grand Prix.
Norris, who took the championship lead from Piastri by a single point after taking the win in Mexico City two weeks ago, beat the Melbourne-born driver by 0.023 seconds.
Before then, Piastri had been the quickest of the McLaren pair during the running before the sprint shootout set to begin at the evening session.
The Red Bull star, the sole remaining contender in realistic title contention, lying with a 36-point deficit behind Norris, finished in 17th place as his Red Bull team ran a alternative strategy.
His teammate Yuki Tsunoda was the sole competitor to go off, albeit lightly, when he spun at corner four early in the session.
The Japanese lost control over the curbs on exit before rotating through the gravel trap, and was blessed to escape with just a slight brush of the barrier.
Ferrari's Lewis Hamilton also spun, at the very end of the session, spinning around through the fast downhill corner approaching the last turn on to the start-finish straight.
The seven-time champion ended the session in P19, just behind team-mate Charles Leclerc.
The McLaren pair were far ahead of the rest of the field, with the German's car in third, 0.619 seconds behind the Australian's time.
Aston Martin's Fernando Alonso was fourth fastest, with the Sauber of Gabriel Bortoleto fifth from Mercedes' Russell and Alpine's Pierre Gasly and the Williams of Carlos Sainz.
