Lando Norris Edges Out Piastri in Brazilian Practice Session

McLaren drivers in action

The British driver has beaten his teammate at each of the last five race weekends.

The McLaren driver just pipped fellow driver and championship contender Oscar Piastri for the top spot in the final moments of practice at the Sao Paulo Grand Prix.

Norris, who took the title advantage from Piastri by one point after winning in the Mexican Grand Prix recently, topped the Australian by a tiny margin of 0.023secs.

Before then, Oscar Piastri had been the fastest McLaren driver throughout the hour before sprint qualifying set to begin at the evening session.

Max Verstappen, the sole remaining contender in realistic title contention, lying with a 36-point deficit Norris, was classified in P17 as his team followed a different programme.

Verstappen's team-mate the Japanese driver was the only driver to crash, if briefly, when he spun at corner four soon after starting.

The Japanese slid over the track edges before spinning across the run-off area, and was blessed to escape with just a slight brush of the barrier.

Ferrari's Lewis Hamilton also had a spin, at the very end of the practice, rotating twice through the quick descending corner leading to the last turn on to the main straight.

Hamilton wrapped up in P19, just behind teammate Charles Leclerc.

The McLaren pair were significantly quicker of the remaining drivers, with the German's car P3, 0.619 seconds off Piastri's pace.

Aston Martin's the Spanish driver was in fourth, with the Sauber of Bortoleto in front of Mercedes' Russell and Alpine's Pierre Gasly and Williams' Sainz.

Beth Hoffman
Beth Hoffman

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