Norris Tops Piastri in Sao Paulo Practice
Lando Norris has outperformed his teammate at each of the previous five race weekends.
The McLaren driver edged out fellow driver and championship contender the Australian for the top spot in the final moments of the practice session at the Sao Paulo Grand Prix.
The British racer, who seized the championship lead from Piastri by one point after his victory in the Mexican Grand Prix recently, outpaced the Australian by a tiny margin of 0.023secs.
Earlier in the session, Oscar Piastri had been the quickest of the McLaren pair throughout the hour before the sprint shootout set to begin at the evening session.
The Red Bull star, the only other driver in the championship fight, lying with a 36-point deficit behind Norris, finished in 17th place as his Red Bull team followed a unique setup.
Verstappen's team-mate the Japanese driver was the only driver to have an incident, albeit lightly, when he spun at the fourth corner early in the session.
Tsunoda slid over the exit kerbs before rotating through the escape zone, and was blessed to avoid just a light touch of the barrier.
The Ferrari of the seven-time champion also spun, at the very end of the session, rotating twice through the high-speed corner before the final corner on to the start-finish straight.
The seven-time champion finished practice in 19th, one place behind teammate Charles Leclerc.
Norris and Piastri were significantly quicker of the other competitors, with Nico Hulkenberg's car P3, 0.619secs behind Piastri's pace.
The Aston Martin of the Spanish driver was fourth quickest, with the Sauber of Bortoleto in front of Mercedes' George Russell and Alpine's Gasly and Williams' Carlos Sainz.
