Lando Norris Leads Piastri in Brazilian Practice Session
Lando Norris has beaten Oscar Piastri at each of the previous five grands prix.
Lando Norris just pipped team-mate and championship contender the Australian for the fastest time in the closing stages of the practice session at the Brazilian Grand Prix.
The British racer, who seized the championship lead from Piastri by one point after winning in Mexico City a fortnight back, topped the Melbourne-born driver by a tiny margin of 0.023secs.
Earlier in the session, Oscar Piastri had been the fastest McLaren driver throughout the hour before sprint qualifying due at 6:30 PM GMT.
Max Verstappen, the only other driver in realistic title contention, trailing 36 points behind behind Norris, ended up in 17th place as his Red Bull team opted for a alternative strategy.
His teammate Yuki Tsunoda was the sole competitor to crash, if briefly, when he rotated at the fourth corner early in the session.
Tsunoda slid over the curbs on exit before rotating through the escape zone, and was fortunate to escape with just a light touch of the barrier.
The Ferrari of Lewis Hamilton also spun, at the final moments of the session, rotating twice through the high-speed corner approaching the last turn on to the pit straight.
The veteran finished practice in P19, trailing team-mate the Monegasque driver.
Norris and Piastri were significantly quicker of the rest of the field, with Nico Hulkenberg's car third fastest, 0.619secs off the Australian's time.
Aston Martin's Fernando Alonso was fourth fastest, with the Sauber of Gabriel Bortoleto ahead of the Mercedes of George Russell and Alpine's Pierre Gasly and Williams' Carlos Sainz.
