Lando Norris Edges Out Oscar Piastri in Sao Paulo Practice
Lando Norris has outperformed Oscar Piastri at each of the previous five race weekends.
The McLaren driver edged out team-mate and title rival the Australian for the top spot in the dying seconds of the practice session at the Brazilian Grand Prix.
Norris, who took the championship lead from Piastri by one point after his victory in the Mexican Grand Prix two weeks ago, outpaced the Melbourne-born driver by 0.023 seconds.
Before then, Oscar Piastri had been the fastest McLaren driver during the running before the sprint shootout set to begin at the evening session.
Max Verstappen, the other racer in the championship fight, sitting 36 points behind Norris, ended up in 17th position as his team opted for a unique setup.
Verstappen's team-mate the Japanese driver was the sole competitor to have an incident, though minor, when he rotated at the fourth corner early in the session.
Tsunoda lost control over the exit kerbs before sliding over the run-off area, and was fortunate to avoid just a light touch of the wall.
Ferrari's Lewis Hamilton also spun, at the final moments of the session, rotating twice through the fast downhill Mergulho turn approaching the final bend on to the main straight.
The veteran wrapped up in P19, just behind teammate the Monegasque driver.
Norris and Piastri were far ahead of the other competitors, with Nico Hulkenberg's Sauber in third, over half a second slower than Piastri's best.
The Aston Martin of Fernando Alonso was in fourth, with Sauber's Gabriel Bortoleto fifth from Mercedes' Russell and Alpine's Pierre Gasly and Williams' Carlos Sainz.
