Lando Norris Tops Oscar Piastri in Brazilian Practice Session
Lando Norris has outperformed Oscar Piastri at each of the past five grands prix.
The McLaren driver narrowly beat team-mate and title rival Oscar Piastri for the quickest lap in the closing stages of practice at the Brazilian Grand Prix.
Norris, who seized the title advantage from Piastri by just one point after his victory in Mexico City recently, outpaced the Melbourne-born driver by 0.023 seconds.
Earlier in the session, Oscar Piastri had been the leading McLaren during the running before sprint qualifying set to begin at the evening session.
Max Verstappen, the other racer in realistic title contention, sitting with a 36-point deficit Norris, was classified in P17 as his Red Bull team followed a alternative strategy.
His teammate Yuki Tsunoda was the sole competitor to go off, though minor, when he rotated at the fourth corner soon after starting.
Tsunoda spun out over the track edges before sliding over the gravel trap, and was fortunate to escape with just a slight brush of the wall.
Ferrari's the seven-time champion also had a spin, at the very end of the practice, rotating twice through the high-speed corner approaching the final corner on to the pit straight.
Hamilton finished practice in 19th place, just behind team-mate the Monegasque driver.
Norris and Piastri were significantly quicker of the other competitors, with Nico Hulkenberg's Sauber third fastest, 0.619 seconds behind Piastri's best.
The Aston Martin of Fernando Alonso was fourth fastest, with the Sauber of Bortoleto fifth from the Mercedes of George Russell and Alpine's Gasly and Williams' Carlos Sainz.
