Lando Norris Leads Oscar Piastri in Brazilian Practice
The British driver has outperformed Oscar Piastri at each of the last five race weekends.
Lando Norris narrowly beat fellow driver and championship contender Oscar Piastri for the fastest time in the final moments of practice at the Brazilian Grand Prix.
Norris, who took the championship lead from his teammate by one point after winning in the Mexican Grand Prix recently, topped the Australian by 0.023 seconds.
Before then, Piastri had been the fastest McLaren driver throughout the hour before sprint qualifying due at the evening session.
Max Verstappen, the other racer in realistic title contention, sitting 36 points behind Norris, finished in 17th position as his Red Bull team opted for a different programme.
Verstappen's team-mate Yuki Tsunoda was the sole competitor to crash, if briefly, when he rotated at the fourth corner during the early running.
The Japanese lost control over the curbs on exit before rotating through the run-off area, and was blessed to escape with just a light touch of the fence.
The Ferrari of Lewis Hamilton also spun, at the final moments of the practice, turning around through the fast downhill Mergulho corner leading to the last turn on to the start-finish straight.
The seven-time champion 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 in third, 0.619 seconds off Piastri's pace.
Aston Martin's the Spanish driver was fourth fastest, with the Sauber of Gabriel Bortoleto ahead of Mercedes' Russell and Alpine's Pierre Gasly and the Williams of Sainz.
