Lando Norris Edges Out Oscar Piastri in Sao Paulo Practice
The British driver has outperformed Oscar Piastri at all of the last five race weekends.
Lando Norris edged out fellow driver and title rival the Australian for the top spot in the final moments of the practice session at the Sao Paulo Grand Prix.
The British racer, who seized the title advantage from his teammate by one point after taking the win in the Mexican Grand Prix recently, outpaced the Melbourne-born driver by 0.023 seconds.
Before then, Piastri had been the fastest McLaren driver during the running before sprint qualifying set to begin at the evening session.
Max Verstappen, the sole remaining contender in the championship fight, sitting with a 36-point deficit Norris, finished in P17 as his Red Bull team followed a different programme.
His teammate the Japanese driver was the only driver to go off, if briefly, when he rotated at the fourth corner early in the session.
The Japanese slid over the curbs on exit before rotating through the run-off area, and was lucky to avoid just a light touch of the barrier.
The Ferrari of the seven-time champion also lost it, at the conclusion of the session, turning around through the high-speed Mergulho corner before the final bend on to the pit straight.
Hamilton ended the session in P19, trailing team-mate the Monegasque driver.
Norris and Piastri were far ahead of the other competitors, with the German's Sauber in third, over half a second slower than the Australian's time.
Aston Martin's Fernando Alonso was fourth quickest, with Sauber's Bortoleto ahead of Mercedes' George Russell and Alpine's Gasly and Williams' Carlos Sainz.
