Norris Leads Piastri in Brazilian Practice

McLaren drivers in action

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

The McLaren driver edged out team-mate and championship contender Oscar Piastri for the fastest time in the final moments of practice at the Sao Paulo Grand Prix.

Norris, who grabbed the points lead from Piastri by one point after taking the win in Mexico City two weeks ago, beat the Australian by a mere 0.023s.

Until that point, Piastri had been the leading McLaren throughout the hour before the sprint shootout set to begin at 18:30 GMT.

Max Verstappen, the only other driver in the championship fight, sitting 36 points behind behind Norris, finished in 17th position as his team followed a unique setup.

Verstappen's team-mate Yuki Tsunoda was the only driver to go off, if briefly, when he spun at corner four early in the session.

Tsunoda spun out over the track edges before rotating through the escape zone, and was blessed to get away with just a slight brush of the wall.

Ferrari's the seven-time champion also had a spin, at the final moments of the practice, rotating twice through the high-speed Mergulho turn before the last turn on to the pit straight.

The veteran finished practice in 19th, just behind teammate Charles Leclerc.

The McLaren pair were significantly quicker of the other competitors, with the German's Sauber P3, 0.619 seconds behind the Australian's time.

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

Luke Hammond
Luke Hammond

A physicist specializing in quantum computing and AI ethics, with over a decade of research experience at leading institutions.