Lando Norris Leads Piastri in Sao Paulo Practice Session

McLaren drivers in action

The British driver has outperformed his teammate at all of the past five race weekends.

Lando Norris just pipped team-mate and championship contender the Australian for the quickest lap in the closing stages of practice at the Sao Paulo Grand Prix.

The British racer, who took the championship lead from his teammate by a single point after winning in Mexico City a fortnight back, beat the Australian by a mere 0.023s.

Earlier in the session, Piastri had been the leading McLaren throughout the hour before sprint qualifying set to begin at 6:30 PM GMT.

Max Verstappen, the other racer in realistic title contention, trailing with a 36-point deficit behind Norris, ended up in 17th place as his team ran a alternative strategy.

Verstappen's team-mate the Japanese driver was the only driver to have an incident, albeit lightly, when he lost control at Turn Four during the early running.

Tsunoda spun out over the exit kerbs before rotating through the gravel trap, and was blessed to get away with just a minor contact of the fence.

The Ferrari of Lewis Hamilton also spun, at the final moments of the session, spinning around through the fast downhill Mergulho corner before the last turn on to the pit straight.

The seven-time champion wrapped up in 19th, just behind team-mate Charles Leclerc.

The McLaren drivers were well clear of the remaining drivers, with the German's Sauber third fastest, over half a second off Piastri's best.

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

Chad Watts
Chad Watts

A seasoned gaming analyst with over a decade of experience in casino strategy and game development.