Norris Leads Oscar Piastri in Brazilian Practice Session
Lando Norris has beaten Oscar Piastri at each of the last five race weekends.
The McLaren driver just pipped fellow driver and championship contender Oscar Piastri for the top spot in the dying seconds of the practice session at the Brazilian Grand Prix.
The British racer, who took the points lead from Piastri by a single point after his victory in the Mexican Grand Prix a fortnight back, topped the Australian by a tiny margin of 0.023secs.
Before then, Piastri had been the fastest McLaren driver throughout the hour before sprint qualifying due at 6:30 PM GMT.
Max Verstappen, the only other driver in the championship fight, lying 36 points behind Norris, was classified in 17th place as his team opted for a different programme.
His teammate the Japanese driver was the only driver to crash, albeit lightly, when he lost control at corner four during the early running.
The Japanese slid over the curbs on exit before sliding over the run-off area, and was lucky to escape with just a minor contact of the wall.
The Ferrari of Lewis Hamilton also spun, at the final moments of the session, turning around through the fast downhill Mergulho turn leading to the final bend on to the pit straight.
The seven-time champion wrapped up in 19th place, one place behind teammate Charles Leclerc.
Norris and Piastri were significantly quicker of the remaining drivers, with the German's car third fastest, 0.619 seconds behind the Australian's time.
The Aston Martin of the Spanish driver was fourth quickest, with Sauber's Bortoleto fifth from the Mercedes of George Russell and Alpine's Gasly and the Williams of Carlos Sainz.
