Norris Edges Out Oscar Piastri in Brazilian Practice
Lando Norris has outscored Oscar Piastri at all of the past five grands prix.
The McLaren driver narrowly beat team-mate and championship contender the Australian for the top spot in the dying seconds of practice at the Brazilian Grand Prix.
The British racer, who took the title advantage from his teammate by a single point after taking the win in Mexico City two weeks ago, topped the Australian by a mere 0.023s.
Before then, Piastri had been the quickest of the McLaren pair during the running before the sprint shootout due at 6:30 PM GMT.
The Red Bull star, the only other driver in the championship fight, sitting 36 points behind behind Norris, ended up in 17th place as his Red Bull team followed a alternative strategy.
His teammate the Japanese driver was the only driver to have an incident, though minor, when he spun at Turn Four early in the session.
The Japanese slid over the exit kerbs before spinning across the run-off area, and was fortunate to avoid just a slight brush of the fence.
The Ferrari of Lewis Hamilton also spun, at the very end of the session, rotating twice through the quick descending Mergulho turn before the final bend on to the start-finish straight.
Hamilton finished practice in 19th place, trailing team-mate Charles Leclerc.
Norris and Piastri were well clear of the other competitors, with Nico Hulkenberg's Sauber in third, 0.619secs behind the Australian's time.
Aston Martin's the Spanish driver was fourth quickest, with Sauber's Gabriel Bortoleto ahead of Mercedes' George Russell and Alpine's Pierre Gasly and the Williams of Carlos Sainz.
