🔗 Share this article Lando Norris Tops Piastri in Brazilian Practice The British driver has outperformed his teammate at all of the last five grands prix. The McLaren driver just pipped fellow driver and championship contender the Australian for the fastest time in the closing stages of the practice session at the Sao Paulo Grand Prix. Norris, who took the title advantage from his teammate by just one point after taking the win in Mexico City two weeks ago, outpaced the Australian by a mere 0.023s. Until that point, Oscar Piastri had been the quickest of the McLaren pair for most of the session before the sprint shootout due at 6:30 PM GMT. The Red Bull star, the sole remaining contender in realistic title contention, sitting 36 points behind behind Norris, finished in P17 as his team opted for a different programme. Verstappen's team-mate the Japanese driver was the only driver to crash, if briefly, when he lost control at the fourth corner soon after starting. The Japanese spun out over the track edges before rotating through the gravel trap, and was fortunate to avoid just a light touch of the fence. Ferrari's Lewis Hamilton also spun, at the final moments of the session, turning around through the fast downhill Mergulho turn before the final bend on to the start-finish straight. Hamilton ended the session in 19th place, just behind teammate Charles Leclerc. Norris and Piastri were significantly quicker of the remaining drivers, with Nico Hulkenberg's car third fastest, 0.619 seconds off Piastri's pace. Aston Martin's the Spanish driver was fourth fastest, with the Sauber of Gabriel Bortoleto in front of the Mercedes of George Russell and the Alpine of Pierre Gasly and Williams' Carlos Sainz.