Lando Norris Leads Piastri in Brazilian Practice Session
Lando Norris has outscored his teammate at all of the last five grands prix.
Lando Norris edged out fellow driver and title rival Oscar Piastri for the quickest lap in the dying seconds of practice at the Brazilian Grand Prix.
The British racer, who seized the championship lead from his teammate by just one point after his victory in Mexico City a fortnight back, beat the Melbourne-born driver by 0.023 seconds.
Before then, Piastri had been the quickest of the McLaren pair throughout the hour before the sprint shootout set to begin at 6:30 PM GMT.
Max Verstappen, the other racer in the championship fight, lying with a 36-point deficit Norris, finished in 17th position as his Red Bull team opted for a unique setup.
His teammate the Japanese driver was the only driver to go off, though minor, when he rotated at the fourth corner soon after starting.
The Japanese slid over the exit kerbs before rotating through the escape zone, and was lucky to avoid just a slight brush of the wall.
Ferrari's the seven-time champion also lost it, at the very end of the practice, turning around through the quick descending Mergulho turn leading to the final bend on to the main straight.
The veteran ended the session in 19th, one place behind team-mate the Monegasque driver.
The McLaren pair were well clear of the rest of the field, with the German's Sauber in third, 0.619secs off the Australian's time.
The Aston Martin of Fernando Alonso was fourth quickest, with the Sauber of Bortoleto fifth from the Mercedes of George Russell and Alpine's Gasly and Williams' Sainz.
