Lando Norris Edges Out Piastri in Brazilian Practice
Lando Norris has beaten Oscar Piastri at each of the past five grands prix.
Lando Norris narrowly beat fellow driver and title rival the Australian for the quickest lap in the dying seconds of practice at the Brazilian Grand Prix.
The British racer, who took the championship lead from Piastri by a single point after taking the win in Mexico City a fortnight back, topped the Australian by 0.023 seconds.
Before then, Piastri had been the fastest McLaren driver for most of the session before sprint qualifying scheduled for the evening session.
The Red Bull star, the sole remaining contender in the championship fight, sitting with a 36-point deficit Norris, ended up in 17th position as his Red Bull team ran a different programme.
His teammate the Japanese driver was the sole competitor to have an incident, though minor, when he spun at the fourth corner during the early running.
Tsunoda slid over the curbs on exit before sliding over the escape zone, and was blessed to get away with just a slight brush of the fence.
The Ferrari of the seven-time champion also had a spin, at the very end of the practice, spinning around through the fast downhill Mergulho corner leading to the final corner on to the main straight.
The veteran ended the session in 19th place, trailing teammate Charles Leclerc.
The McLaren pair were well clear of the other competitors, with Nico Hulkenberg's car third fastest, 0.619 seconds off Piastri's best.
Aston Martin's the Spanish driver was fourth fastest, with the Sauber of Gabriel Bortoleto ahead of Mercedes' Russell and Alpine's Gasly and Williams' Carlos Sainz.
