Lando Norris Edges Out Oscar Piastri in Brazilian Practice Session
Lando Norris has outperformed Oscar Piastri at all of the previous five race weekends.
Lando Norris edged out team-mate and title rival the Australian for the quickest lap in the closing stages of practice at the Brazilian Grand Prix.
Norris, who took the championship lead from his teammate by one point after winning in Mexico City two weeks ago, beat the Melbourne-born driver by a mere 0.023s.
Before then, Oscar Piastri had been the fastest McLaren driver for most of the session before sprint qualifying due at 18:30 GMT.
Max Verstappen, the only other driver in the championship fight, lying 36 points behind Norris, ended up in 17th place as his Red Bull team ran a different programme.
His teammate Yuki Tsunoda was the sole competitor to crash, though minor, when he rotated at the fourth corner during the early running.
Tsunoda lost control over the exit kerbs before rotating through the gravel trap, and was lucky to escape with just a minor contact of the fence.
Ferrari's Lewis Hamilton also spun, at the final moments of the practice, rotating twice through the fast downhill corner before the final corner on to the main straight.
Hamilton finished practice in 19th, one place behind teammate Charles Leclerc.
The McLaren pair were significantly quicker of the other competitors, with Nico Hulkenberg's Sauber in third, 0.619 seconds off Piastri's best.
Aston Martin's the Spanish driver was fourth fastest, with Sauber's Gabriel Bortoleto ahead of Mercedes' Russell and the Alpine of Gasly and the Williams of Carlos Sainz.
