Norris Tops Oscar Piastri in Brazilian Practice
The British driver has beaten Oscar Piastri at all of the last five grands prix.
The McLaren driver narrowly beat team-mate 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 seized the title advantage from his teammate by just one point after taking the win in the Mexican Grand Prix two weeks ago, topped the Australian by a tiny margin of 0.023secs.
Until that point, Piastri had been the leading McLaren throughout the hour before the sprint shootout scheduled for the evening session.
The Red Bull star, the only other driver in realistic title contention, sitting with a 36-point deficit behind Norris, ended up in 17th position as his team opted for a alternative strategy.
His teammate Yuki Tsunoda was the sole competitor to crash, though minor, when he rotated at the fourth corner soon after starting.
Tsunoda lost control over the curbs on exit before sliding over the run-off area, and was blessed to escape with just a light touch of the fence.
The Ferrari of Lewis Hamilton also lost it, at the conclusion of the session, spinning around through the high-speed Mergulho turn before the final bend on to the main straight.
The seven-time champion ended the session in P19, one place behind team-mate the Monegasque driver.
The McLaren pair were significantly quicker of the other competitors, with Nico Hulkenberg's Sauber P3, 0.619 seconds off Piastri's best.
Aston Martin's the Spanish driver was fourth quickest, with the Sauber of Bortoleto in front of the Mercedes of Russell and Alpine's Gasly and Williams' Sainz.
