Norris Edges Out Piastri in Sao Paulo Practice
Lando Norris has outscored his teammate at each of the previous five grands prix.
Lando Norris edged out fellow driver and championship contender the Australian for the fastest time in the dying seconds of practice at the Sao Paulo Grand Prix.
The British racer, who grabbed the championship lead from Piastri by one point after taking the win in the Mexican Grand Prix two weeks ago, outpaced the Australian by a mere 0.023s.
Before then, Piastri had been the fastest McLaren driver during the running before the sprint shootout scheduled for 6:30 PM GMT.
Max Verstappen, the only other driver in the points battle, lying 36 points behind Norris, was classified in P17 as his Red Bull team ran a unique setup.
His teammate the Japanese driver was the only driver to have an incident, though minor, when he spun at corner four early in the session.
The Japanese slid over the track edges before rotating through the escape zone, and was fortunate to avoid just a minor contact of the fence.
The Ferrari of the seven-time champion also spun, at the conclusion of the practice, spinning around through the fast downhill corner before the final bend on to the pit straight.
The veteran wrapped up in 19th, just behind team-mate the Monegasque driver.
The McLaren drivers were well clear of the other competitors, with Nico Hulkenberg's Sauber P3, 0.619 seconds slower than Piastri's best.
Aston Martin's Fernando Alonso was fourth quickest, with Sauber's Gabriel Bortoleto ahead of Mercedes' Russell and the Alpine of Pierre Gasly and the Williams of Sainz.
