Norris Edges Out Oscar Piastri in Brazilian Practice Session
Lando Norris has outperformed Oscar Piastri at all of the previous five grands prix.
The McLaren driver edged out fellow driver and title rival Oscar Piastri for the top spot in the final moments of practice at the Brazilian Grand Prix.
Norris, who grabbed the title advantage from Piastri by one point after his victory in Mexico City two weeks ago, outpaced the Melbourne-born driver by 0.023 seconds.
Before then, Oscar Piastri had been the fastest McLaren driver throughout the hour before the sprint shootout set to begin at 6:30 PM GMT.
Max Verstappen, the other racer in the championship fight, sitting 36 points behind behind Norris, was classified in 17th position as his team followed a alternative strategy.
Verstappen's team-mate the Japanese driver was the only driver to crash, if briefly, when he lost control at Turn Four early in the session.
The Japanese spun out over the track edges before rotating through the escape zone, and was blessed to avoid just a slight brush of the fence.
The Ferrari of Lewis Hamilton also lost it, at the final moments of the session, turning around through the quick descending Mergulho corner approaching the final bend on to the start-finish straight.
The veteran finished practice in 19th place, trailing team-mate the Monegasque driver.
Norris and Piastri were far ahead of the other competitors, with the German's car P3, 0.619 seconds behind the Australian's time.
The Aston Martin of Fernando Alonso was fourth quickest, with Sauber's Bortoleto in front of Mercedes' Russell and the Alpine of Gasly and Williams' Carlos Sainz.
