Lando Norris Tops Piastri in Sao Paulo Practice Session
Lando Norris has beaten his teammate at all of the past five grands prix.
The McLaren driver narrowly beat fellow driver and championship contender the Australian for the quickest lap in the final moments of practice at the Brazilian Grand Prix.
Norris, who grabbed the points lead from his teammate by just one point after his victory in Mexico City recently, beat 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 the sprint shootout due at 6:30 PM GMT.
Max Verstappen, the sole remaining contender in the points battle, sitting with a 36-point deficit behind Norris, finished in 17th position as his team ran a unique setup.
His teammate the Japanese driver was the sole competitor to go off, albeit lightly, when he rotated at the fourth corner soon after starting.
The Japanese spun out over the track edges before rotating through the gravel trap, and was lucky to escape with just a light touch of the wall.
The Ferrari of the seven-time champion also lost it, at the conclusion of the practice, turning around through the quick descending Mergulho corner before the final bend on to the start-finish straight.
The seven-time champion finished practice in 19th, trailing teammate the Monegasque driver.
Norris and Piastri were far ahead of the other competitors, with the German's Sauber P3, 0.619 seconds behind Piastri's pace.
Aston Martin's the Spanish driver was fourth fastest, with the Sauber of Gabriel Bortoleto ahead of the Mercedes of George Russell and Alpine's Gasly and the Williams of Carlos Sainz.
