Norris Tops Piastri in Brazilian Practice Session
Lando Norris has outperformed his teammate at all of the last five grands prix.
The McLaren driver narrowly beat fellow driver and championship contender Oscar Piastri for the quickest lap in the closing stages of practice at the Brazilian Grand Prix.
The British racer, who grabbed the points lead from Piastri by one point after taking the win in the Mexican Grand Prix recently, outpaced 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 due at 18:30 GMT.
The Red Bull star, the other racer in the points battle, trailing 36 points behind behind Norris, ended up in 17th position as his team opted for a alternative strategy.
His teammate Yuki Tsunoda was the sole competitor to go off, if briefly, when he lost control at Turn Four during the early running.
Tsunoda spun out over the curbs on exit before rotating through the escape zone, and was fortunate to escape with just a minor contact of the barrier.
Ferrari's Lewis Hamilton also spun, at the final moments of the practice, turning around through the fast downhill Mergulho turn leading to the last turn on to the pit straight.
Hamilton wrapped up in 19th, just behind team-mate the Monegasque driver.
The McLaren pair were significantly quicker of the other competitors, with the German's Sauber third fastest, over half a second off Piastri's pace.
Aston Martin's Fernando Alonso was fourth quickest, with Sauber's Gabriel Bortoleto ahead of Mercedes' George Russell and Alpine's Pierre Gasly and Williams' Carlos Sainz.
