Norris Leads Oscar Piastri in Sao Paulo Practice Session
Lando Norris has outperformed Oscar Piastri at all of the past five grands prix.
Lando Norris narrowly beat team-mate and championship contender Oscar Piastri for the top spot in the dying seconds of practice at the Brazilian Grand Prix.
Norris, who grabbed the championship lead from Piastri by just one point after his victory in Mexico City recently, outpaced the Melbourne-born driver by a mere 0.023s.
Until that point, Piastri had been the quickest of the McLaren pair during the running before the sprint shootout set to begin at 6:30 PM GMT.
The Red Bull star, the sole remaining contender in realistic title contention, sitting 36 points Norris, ended up in 17th place as his Red Bull team opted for a different programme.
Verstappen's team-mate Yuki Tsunoda was the only driver to crash, albeit lightly, when he lost control at the fourth corner soon after starting.
Tsunoda slid over the track edges before spinning across the gravel trap, and was blessed to avoid just a minor contact of the wall.
Ferrari's the seven-time champion also spun, at the conclusion of the practice, spinning around through the high-speed Mergulho turn before the final corner on to the pit straight.
Hamilton ended the session in 19th place, just behind team-mate Charles Leclerc.
The McLaren drivers were well clear of the other competitors, with Nico Hulkenberg's Sauber in third, 0.619 seconds off Piastri's best.
Aston Martin's Fernando Alonso was fourth fastest, with Sauber's Gabriel Bortoleto in front of Mercedes' Russell and the Alpine of Gasly and the Williams of Sainz.
