Norris Edges Out Oscar Piastri in Brazilian Practice Session
Lando Norris has outperformed Oscar Piastri at each of the last five grands prix.
Lando Norris just pipped fellow driver and title rival the Australian for the quickest lap in the final moments of practice at the Sao Paulo Grand Prix.
The British racer, who seized the title advantage from Piastri by one point after his victory in Mexico City two weeks ago, beat the Melbourne-born driver by a mere 0.023s.
Earlier in the session, Oscar Piastri had been the fastest McLaren driver for most of the session before sprint qualifying set to begin at the evening session.
Max Verstappen, the only other driver in the championship fight, sitting 36 points behind Norris, was classified in 17th position as his team ran a unique setup.
Verstappen's team-mate the Japanese driver was the sole competitor to have an incident, albeit lightly, when he lost control at corner four early in the session.
Tsunoda spun out over the track edges before sliding over the escape zone, and was lucky to avoid just a slight brush of the wall.
Ferrari's the seven-time champion also spun, at the final moments of the practice, rotating twice through the fast downhill Mergulho turn before the last turn on to the main straight.
The veteran finished practice in 19th place, one place behind team-mate the Monegasque driver.
The McLaren drivers were well clear of the rest of the field, with Nico Hulkenberg's Sauber third fastest, 0.619 seconds behind Piastri's best.
Aston Martin's Fernando Alonso was fourth fastest, with Sauber's Gabriel Bortoleto fifth from the Mercedes of Russell and Alpine's Pierre Gasly and Williams' Carlos Sainz.
