Norris Tops Oscar Piastri in Brazilian Practice

McLaren drivers in action

Lando Norris has outperformed Oscar Piastri at all of the past five race weekends.

Lando Norris edged out team-mate and title rival the Australian for the fastest time in the dying seconds of practice at the Sao Paulo Grand Prix.

The British racer, who grabbed the championship lead from Piastri by a single point after winning in the Mexican Grand Prix recently, beat the Melbourne-born driver by a mere 0.023s.

Until that point, Oscar Piastri had been the quickest of the McLaren pair throughout the hour before sprint qualifying due at 18:30 GMT.

The Red Bull star, the only other driver in the championship fight, trailing with a 36-point deficit behind Norris, was classified in P17 as his team ran a different programme.

His teammate Yuki Tsunoda was the only driver to go off, if briefly, when he lost control at corner four soon after starting.

The Japanese slid over the curbs on exit before rotating through the run-off area, and was lucky to get away with just a slight brush of the barrier.

The Ferrari of Lewis Hamilton also lost it, at the very end of the session, spinning around through the high-speed Mergulho turn before the final corner on to the start-finish straight.

Hamilton finished practice in 19th place, trailing team-mate Charles Leclerc.

The McLaren pair were far ahead of the other competitors, with the German's Sauber P3, 0.619secs off Piastri's best.

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

Jeffrey Gonzalez
Jeffrey Gonzalez

A travel enthusiast and writer based in London, sharing cultural insights and personal adventures from across the UK and beyond.