Norris Edges Out Piastri in Sao Paulo Practice Session
Lando Norris has beaten Oscar Piastri at all of the previous five grands prix.
Lando Norris edged out fellow driver and title rival Oscar Piastri for the quickest lap in the dying seconds of the practice session at the Sao Paulo Grand Prix.
The British racer, who took the championship lead from his teammate by a single point after his victory in Mexico City two weeks ago, topped the Melbourne-born driver by a tiny margin of 0.023secs.
Until that point, Piastri had been the fastest McLaren driver throughout the hour before the sprint shootout set to begin at 18:30 GMT.
Max Verstappen, the only other driver in realistic title contention, lying 36 points behind Norris, finished in 17th place as his Red Bull team followed a alternative strategy.
Verstappen's team-mate the Japanese driver was the sole competitor to have an incident, albeit lightly, when he lost control at corner four during the early running.
Tsunoda lost control over the exit kerbs before spinning across the escape zone, and was fortunate to get away with just a minor contact of the wall.
The Ferrari of the seven-time champion also spun, at the conclusion of the session, rotating twice through the fast downhill Mergulho turn leading to the last turn on to the main straight.
The veteran wrapped up in P19, trailing team-mate the Monegasque driver.
Norris and Piastri were significantly quicker of the other competitors, with Nico Hulkenberg's car in third, over half a second slower than Piastri's pace.
Aston Martin's the Spanish driver was in fourth, with Sauber's Bortoleto fifth from Mercedes' Russell and Alpine's Pierre Gasly and Williams' Carlos Sainz.
