Norris Tops Oscar Piastri in Sao Paulo Practice Session
The British driver has beaten Oscar Piastri at each of the past five grands prix.
Lando Norris edged out fellow driver and championship contender Oscar Piastri for the quickest lap in the dying seconds of practice at the Sao Paulo Grand Prix.
The British racer, who took the championship lead from Piastri by a single point after taking the win in Mexico City recently, outpaced the Australian by 0.023 seconds.
Earlier in the session, Oscar Piastri had been the leading McLaren for most of the session before sprint qualifying scheduled for the evening session.
The Red Bull star, the other racer in realistic title contention, sitting 36 points behind Norris, was classified in P17 as his team followed a alternative strategy.
His teammate Yuki Tsunoda was the only driver to crash, if briefly, when he rotated at corner four soon after starting.
Tsunoda lost control over the track edges before spinning across the escape zone, and was blessed to get away with just a slight brush of the wall.
Ferrari's Lewis Hamilton also spun, at the conclusion of the session, spinning around through the quick descending corner approaching the last turn on to the pit straight.
The veteran finished practice in 19th, one place behind teammate Charles Leclerc.
The McLaren drivers were far ahead of the rest of the field, with Nico Hulkenberg's Sauber in third, 0.619secs off Piastri's pace.
Aston Martin's the Spanish driver was in fourth, with the Sauber of Bortoleto fifth from Mercedes' Russell and Alpine's Pierre Gasly and the Williams of Sainz.
