Lando Norris Edges Out Oscar Piastri in Brazilian Practice
The British driver has outperformed his teammate at all of the past five grands prix.
The McLaren driver narrowly beat fellow driver and championship contender the Australian for the fastest time in the final moments of practice at the Sao Paulo Grand Prix.
Norris, who seized the championship lead from his teammate by just one point after his victory in the Mexican Grand Prix recently, topped the Australian by 0.023 seconds.
Earlier in the session, Oscar Piastri had been the quickest of the McLaren pair throughout the hour before sprint qualifying set to begin at the evening session.
Max Verstappen, the other racer in realistic title contention, sitting 36 points behind Norris, ended up in 17th position as his Red Bull team ran a unique setup.
Verstappen's team-mate the Japanese driver was the sole competitor to have an incident, if briefly, when he spun at the fourth corner soon after starting.
Tsunoda slid over the track edges before rotating through the gravel trap, and was blessed to get away with just a light touch of the barrier.
Ferrari's Lewis Hamilton also had a spin, at the conclusion of the session, rotating twice through the fast downhill Mergulho turn before the final corner on to the main straight.
The seven-time champion ended the session in 19th place, one place behind teammate the Monegasque driver.
Norris and Piastri were significantly quicker of the other competitors, with Nico Hulkenberg's car third fastest, 0.619secs behind Piastri's best.
Aston Martin's the Spanish driver was fourth quickest, with Sauber's Bortoleto ahead of the Mercedes of George Russell and the Alpine of Gasly and the Williams of Sainz.
