Lando Norris Tops Oscar Piastri in Sao Paulo Practice Session

McLaren drivers in action

The British driver has outperformed his teammate at each of the past five race weekends.

Lando Norris edged out team-mate and title rival the Australian for the quickest lap in the dying seconds of the practice session at the Brazilian Grand Prix.

Norris, who seized the points lead from his teammate by a single point after taking the win in the Mexican Grand Prix a fortnight back, outpaced 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 6:30 PM GMT.

Max Verstappen, the other racer in the points battle, sitting 36 points behind Norris, finished in P17 as his Red Bull team ran a different programme.

His teammate Yuki Tsunoda was the only driver to crash, though minor, when he spun at Turn Four during the early running.

Tsunoda spun out over the curbs on exit before sliding over the gravel trap, and was fortunate to escape with just a light touch of the fence.

The Ferrari of Lewis Hamilton also lost it, at the conclusion of the practice, spinning around through the fast downhill Mergulho corner before the last turn on to the pit straight.

The seven-time champion ended the session in 19th, one place behind team-mate the Monegasque driver.

The McLaren pair were far ahead of the other competitors, with Nico Hulkenberg's Sauber third fastest, 0.619secs slower than Piastri's best.

The Aston Martin of Fernando Alonso was in fourth, with Sauber's Bortoleto in front of Mercedes' George Russell and Alpine's Gasly and the Williams of Sainz.

Victoria Chambers
Victoria Chambers

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