Norris Tops Oscar Piastri in Brazilian Practice
Lando Norris has beaten Oscar Piastri at each of the past five grands prix.
Lando Norris just pipped fellow driver and title rival the Australian for the fastest time in the closing stages of the practice session at the Brazilian Grand Prix.
The British racer, who grabbed the points lead from Piastri by one point after his victory in Mexico City two weeks ago, beat the Australian by a tiny margin of 0.023secs.
Until that point, Oscar Piastri had been the fastest McLaren driver during the running before sprint qualifying scheduled for 18:30 GMT.
The Red Bull star, the sole remaining contender in the championship fight, trailing with a 36-point deficit behind Norris, ended up in 17th place as his team followed a unique setup.
Verstappen's team-mate the Japanese driver was the sole competitor to have an incident, if briefly, when he lost control at Turn Four soon after starting.
Tsunoda spun out over the curbs on exit before sliding over the gravel trap, and was blessed to get away with just a light touch of the barrier.
The Ferrari of the seven-time champion also spun, at the final moments of the session, spinning around through the fast downhill Mergulho corner before the last turn on to the main straight.
Hamilton ended the session in 19th, just behind teammate Charles Leclerc.
The McLaren pair were significantly quicker of the rest of the field, with the German's car in third, 0.619secs slower than Piastri's pace.
Aston Martin's the Spanish driver was in fourth, with the Sauber of Bortoleto fifth from the Mercedes of Russell and Alpine's Pierre Gasly and the Williams of Carlos Sainz.
