Lando Norris Leads Piastri in Brazilian Practice
Lando Norris has outperformed Oscar Piastri at each of the past five grands prix.
Lando Norris edged out fellow driver and championship contender the Australian for the quickest lap in the closing stages of the practice session at the Brazilian Grand Prix.
The British racer, who seized the title advantage from his teammate by a single point after taking the win in the Mexican Grand Prix two weeks ago, topped the Melbourne-born driver by a mere 0.023s.
Until that point, Piastri had been the leading McLaren throughout the hour before the sprint shootout scheduled for 6:30 PM GMT.
The Red Bull star, the only other driver in realistic title contention, sitting 36 points Norris, ended up in 17th place as his Red Bull team followed a different programme.
His teammate the Japanese driver was the sole competitor to crash, though minor, when he lost control at the fourth corner early in the session.
Tsunoda slid over the curbs on exit before rotating through the gravel trap, and was blessed to escape with just a minor contact of the barrier.
The Ferrari of the seven-time champion also lost it, at the very end of the session, turning around through the quick descending Mergulho turn leading to the last turn on to the start-finish straight.
Hamilton finished practice in P19, trailing team-mate Charles Leclerc.
Norris and Piastri were far ahead of the remaining drivers, with Nico Hulkenberg's car third fastest, 0.619 seconds behind Piastri's best.
The Aston Martin of Fernando Alonso was in fourth, with Sauber's Gabriel Bortoleto in front of the Mercedes of George Russell and the Alpine of Pierre Gasly and the Williams of Sainz.
