Lando Norris Tops Oscar Piastri in Brazilian Practice
Lando Norris has outperformed his teammate at each of the past five race weekends.
Lando Norris narrowly beat fellow driver and championship contender Oscar Piastri for the fastest time in the closing stages of practice at the Brazilian Grand Prix.
Norris, who grabbed the championship lead from Piastri by just one point after his victory in Mexico City recently, topped the Melbourne-born driver by 0.023 seconds.
Until that point, Oscar Piastri had been the fastest McLaren driver during the running before sprint qualifying set to begin at the evening session.
The Red Bull star, the other racer in the championship fight, sitting 36 points behind Norris, finished in 17th position as his team followed a different programme.
Verstappen's team-mate the Japanese driver was the only driver to go off, though minor, when he spun at corner four soon after starting.
Tsunoda slid over the exit kerbs before spinning across the run-off area, and was lucky to escape with just a slight brush of the barrier.
Ferrari's the seven-time champion also lost it, at the final moments of the practice, turning around through the fast downhill corner before the final bend on to the start-finish straight.
The seven-time champion ended the session in 19th place, one place behind team-mate Charles Leclerc.
The McLaren pair were significantly quicker of the remaining drivers, with Nico Hulkenberg's car third fastest, 0.619secs off Piastri's pace.
Aston Martin's the Spanish driver was in fourth, with Sauber's Gabriel Bortoleto ahead of Mercedes' George Russell and the Alpine of Gasly and the Williams of Sainz.
