Lando Norris Edges Out Piastri in Sao Paulo Practice Session
Lando Norris has outperformed Oscar Piastri at all of the previous five race weekends.
Lando Norris edged out team-mate and championship contender Oscar Piastri for the fastest time in the dying seconds of the practice session at the Sao Paulo Grand Prix.
Norris, who grabbed the championship lead from Piastri by a single point after taking the win in the Mexican Grand Prix recently, beat the Australian by a tiny margin of 0.023secs.
Earlier in the session, Piastri had been the leading McLaren for most of the session before sprint qualifying scheduled for the evening session.
The Red Bull star, the other racer in the points battle, lying 36 points behind behind Norris, finished in 17th place as his Red Bull team opted for a unique setup.
Verstappen's team-mate Yuki Tsunoda was the sole competitor to have an incident, if briefly, when he spun at corner four during the early running.
The Japanese spun out over the track edges before rotating through the run-off area, and was blessed to get away with just a minor contact of the barrier.
Ferrari's the seven-time champion also spun, at the very end of the practice, turning around through the fast downhill corner before the final corner on to the pit straight.
Hamilton wrapped up in P19, one place behind teammate the Monegasque driver.
The McLaren pair were well clear of the other competitors, with the German's Sauber P3, 0.619secs off Piastri's best.
The Aston Martin of Fernando Alonso was fourth fastest, with the Sauber of Bortoleto fifth from Mercedes' Russell and Alpine's Gasly and Williams' Carlos Sainz.
