Norris Leads Oscar Piastri in Brazilian Practice Session

McLaren drivers in action

The British driver has beaten his teammate at each of the previous five race weekends.

The McLaren driver edged out fellow driver and championship contender Oscar Piastri for the top spot in the closing stages of the practice session at the Sao Paulo Grand Prix.

The British racer, who took the title advantage from Piastri by a single point after taking the win in the Mexican Grand Prix a fortnight back, topped the Melbourne-born driver by a tiny margin of 0.023secs.

Until that point, Oscar Piastri had been the leading McLaren during the running before sprint qualifying due at 18:30 GMT.

The Red Bull star, the other racer in realistic title contention, sitting with a 36-point deficit behind Norris, ended up in 17th position as his Red Bull team followed a different programme.

Verstappen's team-mate Yuki Tsunoda was the sole competitor to crash, if briefly, when he rotated at corner four soon after starting.

Tsunoda spun out over the curbs on exit before rotating through the escape zone, and was fortunate to escape with just a light touch of the barrier.

Ferrari's the seven-time champion also spun, at the very end of the session, rotating twice through the fast downhill corner leading to the final corner on to the main straight.

Hamilton finished practice in P19, one place behind team-mate Charles Leclerc.

The McLaren drivers were far ahead of the rest of the field, with the German's car P3, over half a second slower than Piastri's pace.

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

Tara Thompson
Tara Thompson

A seasoned angler with over 15 years of experience in competitive fishing and gear testing across North America.