Lando Norris Tops Oscar Piastri in Brazilian Practice
The British driver has outperformed Oscar Piastri at each of the previous five race weekends.
Lando Norris just pipped fellow driver and title rival the Australian for the fastest time in the closing stages of the practice session at the Brazilian Grand Prix.
Norris, who seized the championship lead from Piastri by one point after winning in the Mexican Grand Prix recently, outpaced the Australian by a tiny margin of 0.023secs.
Earlier in the session, Piastri had been the fastest McLaren driver throughout the hour before the sprint shootout set to begin at 6:30 PM GMT.
The Red Bull star, the sole remaining contender in realistic title contention, trailing 36 points behind behind Norris, ended up in P17 as his Red Bull team followed a alternative strategy.
His teammate Yuki Tsunoda was the only driver to go off, if briefly, when he lost control at the fourth corner soon after starting.
Tsunoda slid over the exit kerbs before rotating through the gravel trap, and was fortunate to get away with just a light touch of the barrier.
Ferrari's the seven-time champion also had a spin, at the final moments of the practice, spinning around through the high-speed Mergulho turn leading to the last turn on to the pit straight.
The seven-time champion wrapped up in 19th, just behind team-mate the Monegasque driver.
The McLaren drivers were far ahead of the remaining drivers, with Nico Hulkenberg's car in third, 0.619 seconds slower than Piastri's pace.
Aston Martin's Fernando Alonso was in fourth, with the Sauber of Gabriel Bortoleto in front of Mercedes' George Russell and Alpine's Gasly and Williams' Carlos Sainz.
