Lando Norris Edges Out Oscar Piastri in Brazilian Practice
Lando Norris has beaten Oscar Piastri at all of the last five race weekends.
Lando Norris edged out fellow driver and title rival the Australian for the top spot in the final moments of practice at the Sao Paulo Grand Prix.
Norris, who took the championship lead from his teammate by a single point after his victory in Mexico City recently, outpaced the Melbourne-born driver by a mere 0.023s.
Earlier in the session, Oscar Piastri had been the quickest of the McLaren pair for most of the session before the sprint shootout set to begin at 6:30 PM GMT.
Max Verstappen, the only other driver in the points battle, lying 36 points behind Norris, finished in 17th position as his Red Bull team followed a alternative strategy.
His teammate the Japanese driver was the only driver to have an incident, albeit lightly, when he spun at Turn Four early in the session.
Tsunoda spun out over the track edges before sliding over the run-off area, and was fortunate to get away with just a slight brush of the wall.
The Ferrari of the seven-time champion also had a spin, at the final moments of the practice, turning around through the quick descending Mergulho turn approaching the last turn on to the main straight.
Hamilton ended the session in 19th place, just behind teammate the Monegasque driver.
Norris and Piastri were well clear of the other competitors, with Nico Hulkenberg's Sauber P3, 0.619 seconds slower than Piastri's pace.
The Aston Martin of Fernando Alonso was fourth fastest, with Sauber's Gabriel Bortoleto in front of Mercedes' Russell and the Alpine of Pierre Gasly and Williams' Carlos Sainz.
