Lando Norris Leads Oscar Piastri in Brazilian Practice
The British driver has outperformed Oscar Piastri at all of the past five grands prix.
Lando Norris narrowly beat fellow driver and title rival the Australian for the top spot in the closing stages of practice at the Sao Paulo Grand Prix.
The British racer, who seized the points lead from his teammate by one point after winning in the Mexican Grand Prix two weeks ago, topped the Melbourne-born driver by a mere 0.023s.
Until that point, Oscar Piastri had been the fastest McLaren driver for most of the session before the sprint shootout set to begin at the evening session.
Max Verstappen, the other racer in the points battle, trailing with a 36-point deficit Norris, ended up in P17 as his Red Bull team opted for a different programme.
Verstappen's team-mate the Japanese driver was the only driver to crash, though minor, when he spun at Turn Four during the early running.
Tsunoda spun out over the exit kerbs before sliding over the gravel trap, and was blessed to avoid just a light touch of the barrier.
Ferrari's Lewis Hamilton also had a spin, at the conclusion of the practice, spinning around through the high-speed corner approaching 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 significantly quicker of the remaining drivers, with the German's Sauber third fastest, over half a second off Piastri's pace.
The Aston Martin of the Spanish driver was in fourth, with the Sauber of Gabriel Bortoleto ahead of the Mercedes of George Russell and the Alpine of Pierre Gasly and Williams' Sainz.
