Lando Norris has struck the first psychological blow of Sao Paulo Grand Prix weekend by pipping Australian championship rival Oscar Piastri by just 0.023 seconds in the only practice session as the McLaren title contenders dominated at Interlagos.
Norris, who moved one point clear of the Australian with four rounds remaining after his triumph in Mexico City, delivered the best lap of one minute 09.975 seconds on medium tyres on his very last flying lap on Friday.
Piastri, who’s been on a disappointing run over the last five races after dominating the championship until the end of August, could at least be satisfied with his only fractionally slower time after being well off the pace in his last races in Austin and Mexico City.
The key for McLaren was that they looked a lot faster than their rivals in what was the only practice session on a sprint weekend. Later on Friday, Norris and Piastri were set for a shootout for pole for Saturday’s 100km sprint race.
McLaren’s advantage was substantial, with Sauber’s Nico Hulkenberg third fastest, 0.619 off the pace, and Aston Martin’s Fernando Alonso fourth.
Brazilian rookie Gabriel Bortoleto, Hulkenberg’s teammate preparing for a first home race, was fifth with Mercedes’ George Russell sixth and Alpine’s Pierre Gasly a surprising seventh.
Red Bull’s champion Max Verstappen, the real danger man to the two McLaren drivers, came only 17th but he didn’t have any runs on the medium tyre.
McLaren will take nothing for granted as Verstappen, now only 36 points off Norris’s lead, managed to win from 17th in Brazil last year.
