Lando Norris Leads Piastri in Brazilian Practice Session
Lando Norris has outscored his teammate at all of the past five race weekends.
Lando Norris edged out team-mate and title rival the Australian for the top spot in the final moments of the practice session at the Brazilian Grand Prix.
Norris, who grabbed the championship lead from his teammate by a single point after taking the win in the Mexican Grand Prix two weeks ago, outpaced the Melbourne-born driver by 0.023 seconds.
Earlier in the session, Oscar Piastri had been the leading McLaren throughout the hour before the sprint shootout due at 6:30 PM GMT.
Max Verstappen, the other racer in realistic title contention, trailing with a 36-point deficit behind Norris, ended up in 17th place as his team followed a different programme.
Verstappen's team-mate Yuki Tsunoda was the sole competitor to go off, albeit lightly, when he rotated at Turn Four soon after starting.
The Japanese spun out over the curbs on exit before sliding over the escape zone, and was blessed to escape with just a minor contact of the barrier.
The Ferrari of the seven-time champion also spun, at the very end of the practice, spinning around through the quick descending Mergulho corner leading to the final bend on to the start-finish straight.
The veteran finished practice in 19th place, trailing teammate the Monegasque driver.
Norris and Piastri were significantly quicker of the other competitors, with Nico Hulkenberg's car P3, over half a second off Piastri's best.
The Aston Martin of Fernando Alonso was fourth fastest, with Sauber's Gabriel Bortoleto fifth from the Mercedes of George Russell and the Alpine of Pierre Gasly and Williams' Sainz.
