Lando Norris Tops Piastri in Brazilian Practice
The British driver has outperformed Oscar Piastri at all of the past five grands prix.
Lando Norris edged out team-mate and title rival Oscar Piastri for the quickest lap in the final moments of practice at the Sao Paulo Grand Prix.
The British racer, who took the title advantage from Piastri by just one point after taking the win in the Mexican Grand Prix a fortnight back, beat the Melbourne-born driver by 0.023 seconds.
Before then, Oscar Piastri had been the fastest McLaren driver during the running before sprint qualifying set to begin at the evening session.
Max Verstappen, the other racer in realistic title contention, sitting with a 36-point deficit behind Norris, ended up in 17th place as his team ran a unique setup.
Verstappen's team-mate the Japanese driver was the sole competitor to crash, albeit lightly, when he lost control at corner four soon after starting.
Tsunoda lost control over the track edges before spinning across the run-off area, and was blessed to get away with just a light touch of the fence.
Ferrari's the seven-time champion also had a spin, at the conclusion of the session, turning around through the fast downhill Mergulho turn approaching the last turn on to the pit straight.
Hamilton ended the session in 19th, one place behind teammate the Monegasque driver.
The McLaren drivers were significantly quicker of the other competitors, with Nico Hulkenberg's car in third, 0.619secs off Piastri's pace.
The Aston Martin of Fernando Alonso was fourth fastest, with Sauber's Bortoleto fifth from Mercedes' George Russell and the Alpine of Gasly and Williams' Carlos Sainz.
