Norris Edges Out Piastri in Brazilian Practice
The British driver has outperformed his teammate at all of the last five grands prix.
Lando Norris just pipped fellow driver and championship contender Oscar Piastri for the top spot in the closing stages of the practice session at the Brazilian Grand Prix.
The British racer, who took the title advantage from Piastri by one point after winning in Mexico City recently, topped the Australian by a mere 0.023s.
Before then, Piastri had been the quickest of the McLaren pair for most of the session before the sprint shootout due at 6:30 PM GMT.
Max Verstappen, the sole remaining contender in realistic title contention, lying with a 36-point deficit behind Norris, was classified in 17th position as his Red Bull team opted for a alternative strategy.
His teammate Yuki Tsunoda was the only driver to crash, if briefly, when he spun at corner four early in the session.
Tsunoda slid over the exit kerbs before spinning across the escape zone, and was lucky to get away with just a minor contact of the fence.
Ferrari's the seven-time champion also had a spin, at the conclusion of the practice, rotating twice through the high-speed Mergulho corner before the last turn on to the pit straight.
The seven-time champion finished practice in P19, one place behind team-mate Charles Leclerc.
The McLaren drivers were significantly quicker of the rest of the field, with the German's car P3, 0.619secs behind Piastri's best.
Aston Martin's Fernando Alonso was in fourth, with Sauber's Gabriel Bortoleto in front of the Mercedes of Russell and Alpine's Pierre Gasly and the Williams of Carlos Sainz.
