Lando Norris Edges Out Oscar Piastri in Sao Paulo Practice Session

McLaren drivers in action

Lando Norris has outperformed his teammate at each of the last five grands prix.

Lando Norris just pipped team-mate and championship contender Oscar Piastri for the top spot in the dying seconds of the practice session at the Brazilian Grand Prix.

Norris, who seized the points lead from Piastri by one point after winning in the Mexican Grand Prix two weeks ago, beat the Australian by a mere 0.023s.

Earlier in the session, Piastri had been the quickest of the McLaren pair during the running before sprint qualifying scheduled for the evening session.

The Red Bull star, the other racer in realistic title contention, trailing 36 points Norris, was classified in P17 as his team ran a unique setup.

Verstappen's team-mate the Japanese driver was the sole competitor to crash, if briefly, when he rotated at the fourth corner early in the session.

Tsunoda spun out over the track edges before rotating through the gravel trap, and was lucky to avoid just a slight brush of the wall.

The Ferrari of Lewis Hamilton also lost it, at the very end of the session, turning around through the high-speed Mergulho turn leading to the final bend on to the pit straight.

The veteran finished practice in 19th place, one place behind teammate Charles Leclerc.

The McLaren drivers were well clear of the remaining drivers, with Nico Hulkenberg's car in third, 0.619secs slower than Piastri's best.

The Aston Martin of the Spanish driver was fourth fastest, with Sauber's Bortoleto in front of Mercedes' Russell and Alpine's Pierre Gasly and Williams' Carlos Sainz.

Cynthia Ward
Cynthia Ward

Construction technology analyst and content strategist with over a decade of experience.