🔗 Share this article Lando Norris Tops Oscar Piastri in Sao Paulo Practice Session Lando Norris has beaten Oscar Piastri at each of the last five race weekends. The McLaren driver narrowly beat team-mate and title rival Oscar Piastri for the top spot in the dying seconds of the practice session at the Sao Paulo Grand Prix. The British racer, who grabbed the championship lead from Piastri by a single point after taking the win in Mexico City recently, beat the Melbourne-born driver by 0.023 seconds. Earlier in the session, Oscar Piastri had been the fastest McLaren driver throughout the hour before sprint qualifying scheduled for 18:30 GMT. Max Verstappen, the sole remaining contender in realistic title contention, trailing 36 points behind Norris, ended up in P17 as his team ran a different programme. His teammate the Japanese driver was the only driver to go off, if briefly, when he rotated at Turn Four during the early running. The Japanese slid over the curbs on exit before rotating through the escape zone, and was fortunate to get away with just a minor contact of the wall. The Ferrari of the seven-time champion also spun, at the final moments of the practice, spinning around through the high-speed corner before the final bend on to the pit straight. The seven-time champion finished practice in 19th place, just behind team-mate the Monegasque driver. Norris and Piastri were well clear of the rest of the field, with the German's car in third, 0.619 seconds off the Australian's time. The Aston Martin of Fernando Alonso was fourth fastest, with the Sauber of Gabriel Bortoleto fifth from the Mercedes of George Russell and Alpine's Gasly and Williams' Carlos Sainz.