Norris Edges Out Oscar Piastri in Brazilian Practice
The British driver has outscored his teammate at all of the previous five race weekends.
Lando Norris just pipped fellow driver and title rival Oscar Piastri for the fastest time in the final moments of the practice session at the Sao Paulo Grand Prix.
Norris, who seized the championship lead from his teammate by a single point after winning in the Mexican Grand Prix two weeks ago, outpaced the Melbourne-born driver by 0.023 seconds.
Before then, Oscar Piastri had been the quickest of the McLaren pair during the running before sprint qualifying scheduled for the evening session.
Max Verstappen, the sole remaining contender in the points battle, lying with a 36-point deficit behind Norris, finished in 17th position as his Red Bull team opted for a unique setup.
Verstappen's team-mate the Japanese driver was the sole competitor to have an incident, if briefly, when he lost control at corner four soon after starting.
Tsunoda slid over the exit kerbs before rotating through the run-off area, and was blessed to escape with just a slight brush of the wall.
The Ferrari of the seven-time champion also lost it, at the final moments of the practice, rotating twice through the high-speed Mergulho turn leading to the final corner on to the pit straight.
The seven-time champion wrapped up in 19th place, just behind team-mate the Monegasque driver.
Norris and Piastri were far ahead of the other competitors, with the German's Sauber in third, 0.619secs slower than Piastri's best.
Aston Martin's Fernando Alonso was fourth fastest, with the Sauber of Gabriel Bortoleto ahead of the Mercedes of Russell and the Alpine of Gasly and Williams' Carlos Sainz.
