Norris Leads Piastri in Brazilian Practice
Lando Norris has outperformed his teammate at each of the last five race weekends.
Lando Norris just pipped fellow driver and championship contender the Australian for the quickest lap in the closing stages of the practice session at the Sao Paulo Grand Prix.
The British racer, who took the championship lead from his teammate by a single point after winning in the Mexican Grand Prix recently, topped the Melbourne-born driver by a tiny margin of 0.023secs.
Before then, Piastri had been the fastest McLaren driver during the running before sprint qualifying due at the evening session.
Max Verstappen, the sole remaining contender in the championship fight, sitting with a 36-point deficit Norris, finished in 17th place as his team ran a unique setup.
Verstappen's team-mate Yuki Tsunoda was the only driver to go off, if briefly, when he rotated at the fourth corner soon after starting.
Tsunoda lost control over the curbs on exit before spinning across the run-off area, and was lucky to escape with just a minor contact of the wall.
The Ferrari of the seven-time champion also had a spin, at the final moments of the practice, rotating twice through the high-speed Mergulho corner approaching the final bend on to the pit straight.
The seven-time champion wrapped up in 19th place, just behind team-mate the Monegasque driver.
The McLaren drivers were far ahead of the other competitors, with Nico Hulkenberg's Sauber P3, 0.619 seconds behind Piastri's best.
The Aston Martin of the Spanish driver was fourth quickest, with the Sauber of Gabriel Bortoleto ahead of Mercedes' George Russell and Alpine's Pierre Gasly and Williams' Sainz.
