Lando Norris Leads Oscar Piastri in Brazilian Practice
Lando Norris has outscored Oscar Piastri at each of the last five race weekends.
Lando Norris just pipped fellow driver and championship contender the Australian for the top spot in the closing stages of practice at the Brazilian Grand Prix.
Norris, who grabbed the title advantage from his teammate by a single point after winning in the Mexican Grand Prix two weeks ago, beat the Melbourne-born driver by a tiny margin of 0.023secs.
Until that point, Piastri had been the leading McLaren for most of the session before the sprint shootout scheduled for 6:30 PM GMT.
The Red Bull star, the sole remaining contender in realistic title contention, lying 36 points Norris, finished in P17 as his Red Bull team followed a different programme.
His teammate Yuki Tsunoda was the only driver to crash, though minor, when he spun at Turn Four soon after starting.
The Japanese spun out over the exit kerbs before spinning across the run-off area, and was lucky to get away with just a slight brush of the fence.
Ferrari's Lewis Hamilton also spun, at the final moments of the practice, spinning around through the fast downhill corner before the last turn on to the start-finish straight.
The seven-time champion ended the session in 19th, one place behind teammate the Monegasque driver.
The McLaren drivers were well clear of the other competitors, with Nico Hulkenberg's car in third, over half a second slower than Piastri's best.
Aston Martin's Fernando Alonso was fourth fastest, with the Sauber of Gabriel Bortoleto fifth from Mercedes' Russell and Alpine's Pierre Gasly and the Williams of Sainz.
