Norris Tops Piastri in Sao Paulo Practice Session
Lando Norris has outscored Oscar Piastri at each of the previous five grands prix.
The McLaren driver just pipped team-mate and title rival Oscar Piastri for the top spot in the dying seconds of practice at the Brazilian Grand Prix.
Norris, who seized the title advantage from his teammate by just one point after taking the win in the Mexican Grand Prix two weeks ago, outpaced the Australian by a mere 0.023s.
Before then, 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 realistic title contention, lying with a 36-point deficit behind Norris, finished in P17 as his Red Bull team followed a alternative strategy.
His teammate the Japanese driver was the sole competitor to have an incident, if briefly, when he rotated at the fourth corner early in the session.
Tsunoda slid over the exit kerbs before spinning across the run-off area, and was lucky to get away with just a minor contact of the fence.
Ferrari's Lewis Hamilton also had a spin, at the final moments of the practice, rotating twice through the fast downhill Mergulho corner before the last turn on to the start-finish straight.
Hamilton finished practice in 19th place, one place behind teammate Charles Leclerc.
The McLaren pair were significantly quicker of the other competitors, with the German's Sauber P3, 0.619secs behind the Australian's time.
Aston Martin's Fernando Alonso was in fourth, with Sauber's Bortoleto ahead of the Mercedes of George Russell and the Alpine of Gasly and the Williams of Carlos Sainz.
