Lando Norris Tops Oscar Piastri in Sao Paulo Practice
Lando Norris has beaten his teammate at all of the past five grands prix.
Lando Norris just pipped 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 grabbed the championship lead from Piastri by a single point after taking the win in Mexico City a fortnight back, topped the Australian by a mere 0.023s.
Until that point, Piastri had been the quickest of the McLaren pair for most of the session before sprint qualifying scheduled for the evening session.
The Red Bull star, the other racer in the championship fight, sitting with a 36-point deficit behind Norris, was classified in 17th position as his Red Bull team opted for a different programme.
Verstappen's team-mate Yuki Tsunoda was the sole competitor to crash, if briefly, when he spun at the fourth corner during the early running.
The Japanese slid over the track edges before rotating through the run-off area, and was fortunate to get away with just a slight brush of the barrier.
Ferrari's Lewis Hamilton also spun, at the very end of the session, spinning around through the fast downhill Mergulho turn approaching the final bend on to the main straight.
The seven-time champion ended the session in P19, just behind teammate the Monegasque driver.
The McLaren pair were significantly quicker of the rest of the field, with the German's car in third, 0.619 seconds slower than the Australian's time.
Aston Martin's the Spanish driver was fourth quickest, with the Sauber of Bortoleto in front of Mercedes' George Russell and Alpine's Gasly and Williams' Carlos Sainz.