Lando Norris Leads Piastri in Brazilian Practice Session
The British driver has beaten Oscar Piastri at each of the previous five grands prix.
Lando Norris edged out team-mate and championship contender Oscar Piastri for the fastest time in the dying seconds of practice at the Brazilian Grand Prix.
The British racer, who seized the title advantage from Piastri by a single point after his victory in the Mexican Grand Prix a fortnight back, topped the Australian by 0.023 seconds.
Earlier in the session, Piastri had been the leading McLaren during the running before sprint qualifying scheduled for the evening session.
The Red Bull star, the other racer in the points battle, sitting with a 36-point deficit Norris, finished in 17th position as his team ran a alternative strategy.
His teammate Yuki Tsunoda was the sole competitor to have an incident, albeit lightly, when he rotated at corner four during the early running.
Tsunoda slid over the curbs on exit before rotating through the gravel trap, and was lucky to avoid just a slight brush of the barrier.
Ferrari's Lewis Hamilton also lost it, at the very end of the session, spinning around through the quick descending corner before the final corner on to the pit straight.
The seven-time champion finished practice in P19, just behind teammate the Monegasque driver.
The McLaren pair were far ahead of the rest of the field, with Nico Hulkenberg's Sauber third fastest, 0.619secs behind Piastri's pace.
Aston Martin's the Spanish driver was fourth quickest, with Sauber's Gabriel Bortoleto fifth from Mercedes' George Russell and the Alpine of Pierre Gasly and Williams' Sainz.
