Lando Norris Tops Piastri in Sao Paulo Practice Session
Lando Norris has outperformed his teammate at each of the previous five race weekends.
Lando Norris edged out fellow driver and championship contender Oscar Piastri for the top spot in the dying seconds of the practice session at the Sao Paulo Grand Prix.
Norris, who took the championship lead from his teammate by just one point after winning in the Mexican Grand Prix two weeks ago, topped the Australian by 0.023 seconds.
Before then, Oscar Piastri had been the leading McLaren for most of the session before the sprint shootout due at 6:30 PM GMT.
Max Verstappen, the sole remaining contender in the points battle, trailing 36 points behind Norris, was classified in 17th place as his team followed a different programme.
His teammate Yuki Tsunoda was the sole competitor to have an incident, though minor, when he lost control at the fourth corner soon after starting.
The Japanese slid over the curbs on exit before sliding over the run-off area, and was fortunate to get away with just a slight brush of the wall.
The Ferrari of the seven-time champion also had a spin, at the final moments of the session, turning around through the quick descending corner leading to the final bend on to the start-finish straight.
The seven-time champion wrapped up in P19, just behind team-mate Charles Leclerc.
The McLaren drivers were far ahead of the rest of the field, with Nico Hulkenberg's Sauber in third, over half a second off Piastri's pace.
Aston Martin's Fernando Alonso was in fourth, with Sauber's Bortoleto in front of Mercedes' George Russell and Alpine's Pierre Gasly and Williams' Sainz.
