Lando Norris Edges Out Piastri in Sao Paulo Practice
Lando Norris has outperformed his teammate at all of the last five grands prix.
Lando Norris just pipped fellow driver and championship contender the Australian for the quickest lap in the final moments of the practice session at the Sao Paulo Grand Prix.
The British racer, who took the championship lead from Piastri by one point after winning in Mexico City a fortnight back, topped the Australian by 0.023 seconds.
Earlier in the session, Piastri had been the quickest of the McLaren pair throughout the hour before sprint qualifying scheduled for 6:30 PM GMT.
The Red Bull star, the only other driver in the points battle, sitting with a 36-point deficit behind Norris, was classified in P17 as his Red Bull team followed a alternative strategy.
His teammate the Japanese driver was the sole competitor to have an incident, albeit lightly, when he lost control at corner four during the early running.
The Japanese slid over the curbs on exit before spinning across the escape zone, and was lucky to get away with just a light touch of the barrier.
Ferrari's the seven-time champion also lost it, at the conclusion of the session, spinning around through the high-speed corner leading to the final corner on to the pit straight.
The veteran ended the session in 19th, just behind teammate Charles Leclerc.
The McLaren pair were well clear of the rest of the field, with Nico Hulkenberg's car P3, over half a second behind Piastri's pace.
The Aston Martin of the Spanish driver was in fourth, with the Sauber of Gabriel Bortoleto in front of the Mercedes of George Russell and Alpine's Pierre Gasly and the Williams of Sainz.
