Lando Norris Edges Out Oscar Piastri in Sao Paulo Practice Session

McLaren drivers in action

Lando Norris has beaten his teammate at each of the past five race weekends.

Lando Norris narrowly beat fellow driver and title rival Oscar Piastri for the top spot in the closing stages of the practice session at the Sao Paulo Grand Prix.

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

Until that point, Piastri had been the quickest of the McLaren pair during the running before the sprint shootout set to begin at 6:30 PM GMT.

The Red Bull star, the only other driver in the points battle, trailing 36 points Norris, ended up in P17 as his team followed a unique setup.

Verstappen's team-mate the Japanese driver was the only driver to crash, albeit lightly, when he spun at the fourth corner early in the session.

Tsunoda spun out over the track edges before sliding over the escape zone, and was lucky to avoid just a minor contact of the wall.

Ferrari's the seven-time champion also lost it, at the very end of the practice, spinning around through the quick descending corner approaching the last turn on to the pit straight.

The seven-time champion finished practice in P19, one place behind teammate Charles Leclerc.

Norris and Piastri were well clear of the other competitors, with the German's Sauber P3, 0.619 seconds slower than the Australian's time.

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

Joshua Walker
Joshua Walker

Tech analyst and writer with over a decade of experience in digital transformation and emerging technologies.