Lando Norris Edges Out Piastri in Sao Paulo Practice Session
Lando Norris has beaten Oscar Piastri at all of the past five race weekends.
The McLaren driver narrowly beat fellow driver and championship contender Oscar Piastri for the top spot in the final moments of the practice session at the Sao Paulo Grand Prix.
The British racer, who took the championship lead from Piastri by a single point after winning in Mexico City two weeks ago, outpaced the Melbourne-born driver by a mere 0.023s.
Before then, Oscar Piastri had been the fastest McLaren driver during the running before the sprint shootout scheduled for the evening session.
The Red Bull star, the other racer in the points battle, trailing 36 points behind Norris, was classified in 17th place as his team opted for a unique setup.
Verstappen's team-mate Yuki Tsunoda was the sole competitor to have an incident, albeit lightly, when he rotated at corner four early in the session.
Tsunoda lost control over the exit kerbs before rotating through the gravel trap, and was fortunate to avoid just a minor contact of the barrier.
The Ferrari of the seven-time champion also had a spin, at the final moments of the session, spinning around through the high-speed Mergulho corner before the final bend on to the start-finish straight.
The seven-time champion ended the session in P19, one place behind team-mate Charles Leclerc.
The McLaren pair were far ahead of the remaining drivers, with Nico Hulkenberg's car in third, over half a second behind Piastri's best.
Aston Martin's Fernando Alonso was in fourth, with Sauber's Gabriel Bortoleto fifth from Mercedes' George Russell and the Alpine of Pierre Gasly and Williams' Carlos Sainz.
