Lando Norris Leads Oscar Piastri in Sao Paulo Practice Session
Lando Norris has outscored Oscar Piastri at all of the past five grands prix.
Lando Norris edged out fellow driver and championship contender Oscar Piastri for the fastest time in the dying seconds of the practice session at the Sao Paulo Grand Prix.
The British racer, who grabbed the championship lead from Piastri by just one point after winning in the Mexican Grand Prix recently, beat the Australian by a tiny margin of 0.023secs.
Earlier in the session, Piastri had been the fastest McLaren driver for most of the session before the sprint shootout set to begin at 6:30 PM GMT.
Max Verstappen, the other racer in the championship fight, sitting with a 36-point deficit behind Norris, ended up in 17th position as his team opted for a alternative strategy.
Verstappen's team-mate the Japanese driver was the sole competitor to go off, if briefly, when he rotated at corner four soon after starting.
Tsunoda spun out over the curbs on exit before rotating through the gravel trap, and was fortunate to escape with just a light touch of the fence.
Ferrari's the seven-time champion also lost it, at the final moments of the practice, rotating twice through the high-speed Mergulho turn approaching the last turn on to the pit straight.
Hamilton wrapped up in 19th, one place behind teammate Charles Leclerc.
Norris and Piastri were far ahead of the rest of the field, with Nico Hulkenberg's Sauber P3, 0.619 seconds behind Piastri's best.
The Aston Martin of the Spanish driver was fourth fastest, with Sauber's Bortoleto fifth from Mercedes' George Russell and Alpine's Pierre Gasly and Williams' Sainz.