Lando Norris Edges Out Oscar Piastri in Sao Paulo Practice
The British driver has outscored his teammate at each of the last five grands prix.
Lando Norris edged out fellow driver and title rival Oscar Piastri for the quickest lap in the closing stages of practice at the Brazilian Grand Prix.
The British racer, who grabbed the points lead from Piastri by a single point after taking the win in Mexico City a fortnight back, topped the Melbourne-born driver by a mere 0.023s.
Earlier in the session, Piastri had been the leading McLaren throughout the hour before sprint qualifying scheduled for the evening session.
The Red Bull star, the sole remaining contender in realistic title contention, lying with a 36-point deficit Norris, finished in 17th position as his team ran a unique setup.
His teammate the Japanese driver was the sole competitor to have an incident, though minor, when he rotated at Turn Four early in the session.
Tsunoda slid over the track edges before sliding over the escape zone, and was blessed to avoid just a light touch of the fence.
Ferrari's the seven-time champion also lost it, at the very end of the practice, spinning around through the fast downhill corner before the last turn on to the pit straight.
Hamilton finished practice in 19th place, one place behind teammate Charles Leclerc.
Norris and Piastri were significantly quicker of the rest of the field, with the German's car P3, 0.619 seconds slower than the Australian's time.
Aston Martin's Fernando Alonso was in fourth, with Sauber's Gabriel Bortoleto ahead of the Mercedes of Russell and Alpine's Pierre Gasly and Williams' Carlos Sainz.
