Norris Tops Piastri in Brazilian Practice Session

McLaren drivers in action

Lando Norris has outperformed Oscar Piastri at all of the previous five grands prix.

Lando Norris edged out fellow driver and championship contender Oscar Piastri for the quickest lap in the final moments of the practice session at the Brazilian Grand Prix.

The British racer, who took the title advantage from his teammate by a single point after taking the win in the Mexican Grand Prix a fortnight back, beat the Melbourne-born driver by 0.023 seconds.

Before then, Piastri had been the fastest McLaren driver during the running before sprint qualifying scheduled for 18:30 GMT.

The Red Bull star, the sole remaining contender in the championship fight, lying 36 points Norris, was classified in 17th position as his Red Bull team ran a different programme.

His teammate the Japanese driver was the only driver to have an incident, though minor, when he spun at corner four soon after starting.

The Japanese slid over the track edges before sliding over the escape zone, and was blessed to escape with just a minor contact of the barrier.

The Ferrari of the seven-time champion also had a spin, at the final moments of the practice, turning around through the quick descending corner approaching the last turn on to the pit straight.

Hamilton finished practice in 19th place, just behind team-mate the Monegasque driver.

The McLaren pair were far ahead of the other competitors, with the German's car P3, over half a second behind Piastri's pace.

The Aston Martin of Fernando Alonso was fourth quickest, with Sauber's Gabriel Bortoleto fifth from Mercedes' Russell and Alpine's Pierre Gasly and Williams' Sainz.

Cynthia Jones
Cynthia Jones

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