05 Sep 2026
Lando Norris Edges Out Piastri in Sao Paulo Practice
The British driver has outperformed his teammate at all of the last five race weekends.
Lando Norris edged out team-mate and title rival Oscar Piastri for the fastest time in the dying seconds of the practice session at the Sao Paulo Grand Prix.
Norris, who grabbed the title advantage from his teammate by one point after taking the win in the Mexican Grand Prix two weeks ago, beat the Melbourne-born driver by a mere 0.023s.
Earlier in the session, Oscar Piastri had been the quickest of the McLaren pair throughout the hour before the sprint shootout scheduled for the evening session.
Max Verstappen, the sole remaining contender in the championship fight, lying with a 36-point deficit behind Norris, ended up in 17th place as his Red Bull team ran a unique setup.
Verstappen's team-mate Yuki Tsunoda was the only driver to crash, if briefly, when he spun at Turn Four during the early running.
Tsunoda spun out over the track edges before sliding over the escape zone, and was lucky to escape with just a minor contact of the barrier.
The Ferrari of the seven-time champion also had a spin, at the very end of the practice, rotating twice through the fast downhill corner approaching the last turn on to the start-finish straight.
Hamilton ended the session in 19th place, trailing team-mate Charles Leclerc.
The McLaren drivers were significantly quicker of the remaining drivers, with the German's car in third, 0.619secs slower than Piastri's pace.
The Aston Martin of the Spanish driver was in fourth, with Sauber's Gabriel Bortoleto in front of the Mercedes of Russell and the Alpine of Pierre Gasly and Williams' Carlos Sainz.