Lando Norris Edges Out Oscar Piastri in Brazilian Practice Session
The British driver has outperformed Oscar Piastri 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 closing stages of the practice session at the Brazilian Grand Prix.
The British racer, who grabbed the title advantage from Piastri by a single point after taking the win in the Mexican Grand Prix recently, outpaced the Melbourne-born driver by a mere 0.023s.
Earlier in the session, Oscar Piastri had been the leading McLaren for most of the session before the sprint shootout due at 6:30 PM GMT.
The Red Bull star, the sole remaining contender in realistic title contention, sitting 36 points Norris, ended up in 17th place as his Red Bull team followed a unique setup.
Verstappen's team-mate Yuki Tsunoda was the only driver to go off, if briefly, when he spun at Turn Four soon after starting.
The Japanese lost control over the exit kerbs before spinning across the gravel trap, and was blessed to get away with just a minor contact of the barrier.
The Ferrari of the seven-time champion also spun, at the very end of the practice, spinning around through the high-speed corner leading to the final bend on to the pit straight.
Hamilton finished practice in 19th, one place behind team-mate Charles Leclerc.
The McLaren drivers were significantly quicker of the other competitors, with Nico Hulkenberg's car third fastest, 0.619 seconds off Piastri's best.
The Aston Martin of the Spanish driver was fourth quickest, with Sauber's Bortoleto fifth from Mercedes' George Russell and Alpine's Gasly and Williams' Sainz.
