Lando Norris Edges Out Oscar Piastri in Brazilian Practice
Lando Norris has outscored Oscar Piastri at each of the last five race weekends.
Lando Norris edged out team-mate and title rival Oscar Piastri for the fastest time in the closing stages 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 the Mexican Grand Prix recently, outpaced the Australian by a mere 0.023s.
Before then, Piastri had been the fastest McLaren driver during the running before the sprint shootout due at 6:30 PM GMT.
The Red Bull star, the only other driver in realistic title contention, lying 36 points behind behind Norris, ended up in 17th place as his team opted for a different programme.
Verstappen's team-mate Yuki Tsunoda was the only driver to go off, though minor, when he rotated at Turn Four during the early running.
Tsunoda spun out over the exit kerbs before rotating through the escape zone, and was lucky to escape with just a slight brush of the wall.
The Ferrari of the seven-time champion also lost it, at the final moments of the session, rotating twice through the high-speed Mergulho corner before the last turn on to the start-finish straight.
The seven-time champion wrapped up in 19th place, trailing team-mate Charles Leclerc.
The McLaren drivers were significantly quicker of the rest of the field, with Nico Hulkenberg's Sauber in third, 0.619 seconds slower than the Australian's time.
Aston Martin's the Spanish driver was in fourth, with the Sauber of Gabriel Bortoleto ahead of the Mercedes of Russell and Alpine's Pierre Gasly and Williams' Carlos Sainz.
