Norris Edges Out Oscar Piastri in Brazilian Practice
Lando Norris has outperformed Oscar Piastri at all of the previous five race weekends.
Lando Norris edged out fellow driver and championship contender the Australian for the quickest lap in the final moments of the practice session at the Brazilian Grand Prix.
Norris, who grabbed the championship lead from Piastri by one point after winning in the Mexican Grand Prix a fortnight back, outpaced the Melbourne-born driver by 0.023 seconds.
Before then, Oscar Piastri had been the quickest of the McLaren pair for most of the session before the sprint shootout scheduled for 18:30 GMT.
The Red Bull star, the other racer in the championship fight, sitting 36 points behind Norris, ended up in 17th position as his team ran a unique setup.
His teammate Yuki Tsunoda was the sole competitor to crash, though minor, when he spun at corner four early in the session.
Tsunoda lost control over the curbs on exit before rotating through the run-off area, and was lucky to get away with just a minor contact of the wall.
Ferrari's Lewis Hamilton also lost it, at the conclusion of the practice, rotating twice through the high-speed Mergulho corner leading to the final bend on to the pit straight.
The seven-time champion wrapped up in 19th, one place behind team-mate Charles Leclerc.
The McLaren drivers were well clear of the remaining drivers, with the German's Sauber in third, 0.619secs behind Piastri's best.
The Aston Martin of Fernando Alonso was fourth fastest, with Sauber's Gabriel Bortoleto in front of Mercedes' Russell and the Alpine of Gasly and Williams' Carlos Sainz.
