Norris Edges Out Oscar Piastri in Sao Paulo Practice
The British driver has outscored Oscar Piastri at all of the last five grands prix.
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.
The British racer, who took the title advantage from Piastri by a single point after taking the win in the Mexican Grand Prix a fortnight back, beat the Melbourne-born driver by a mere 0.023s.
Before then, Piastri had been the leading McLaren during the running before the sprint shootout set to begin at the evening session.
The Red Bull star, the only other driver in the championship fight, sitting 36 points Norris, ended up in 17th position as his Red Bull team opted for a alternative strategy.
His teammate Yuki Tsunoda was the only driver to crash, albeit lightly, when he spun at Turn Four during the early running.
Tsunoda lost control over the exit kerbs before sliding over the escape zone, and was lucky to avoid just a light touch of the wall.
Ferrari's the seven-time champion also spun, at the conclusion of the session, rotating twice through the high-speed Mergulho turn before the final bend on to the pit straight.
The veteran ended the session in P19, trailing teammate the Monegasque driver.
The McLaren drivers were well clear of the rest of the field, with the German's car in third, 0.619 seconds off Piastri's pace.
The Aston Martin of Fernando Alonso was in fourth, with the Sauber of Bortoleto ahead of Mercedes' George Russell and Alpine's Gasly and the Williams of Carlos Sainz.
