Lando Norris Tops Oscar Piastri in Sao Paulo Practice
Lando Norris has outscored his teammate at all of the past five grands prix.
The McLaren driver just pipped fellow driver and championship contender Oscar Piastri for the quickest lap in the final moments of the practice session at the Brazilian Grand Prix.
The British racer, who took the points lead from Piastri by a single point after taking the win in Mexico City two weeks ago, outpaced the Melbourne-born driver by 0.023 seconds.
Until that point, Piastri had been the fastest McLaren driver during the running before the sprint shootout due at the evening session.
The Red Bull star, the other racer in the points battle, sitting with a 36-point deficit behind Norris, ended up in 17th place as his team followed a unique setup.
Verstappen's team-mate Yuki Tsunoda was the only driver to go off, if briefly, when he rotated at the fourth corner during the early running.
The Japanese lost control over the curbs on exit before spinning across the escape zone, and was fortunate to escape with just a light touch of the wall.
The Ferrari of the seven-time champion also lost it, at the final moments of the practice, rotating twice through the fast downhill Mergulho corner before the last turn on to the pit straight.
Hamilton ended the session in 19th place, trailing team-mate Charles Leclerc.
The McLaren pair were significantly quicker of the remaining drivers, with the German's car third fastest, over half a second behind Piastri's best.
Aston Martin's the Spanish driver was in fourth, with Sauber's Gabriel Bortoleto fifth from Mercedes' George Russell and Alpine's Pierre Gasly and the Williams of Sainz.
