Lando Norris Tops Oscar Piastri in Brazilian Practice
The British driver has outperformed Oscar Piastri at all of the previous five race weekends.
Lando Norris narrowly beat team-mate and championship contender the Australian for the top spot in the closing stages of practice at the Sao Paulo Grand Prix.
The British racer, who took the title advantage from his teammate by a single point after winning in Mexico City a fortnight back, topped the Melbourne-born driver by a mere 0.023s.
Until that point, Piastri had been the fastest McLaren driver during the running before the sprint shootout due at the evening session.
The Red Bull star, the only other driver in the points battle, trailing with a 36-point deficit behind Norris, finished in 17th place as his Red Bull team ran a alternative strategy.
His teammate the Japanese driver was the only driver to have an incident, though minor, when he rotated at the fourth corner soon after starting.
Tsunoda lost control over the track edges before rotating through the run-off area, and was lucky to escape with just a minor contact of the wall.
The Ferrari of Lewis Hamilton also spun, at the very end of the practice, spinning around through the fast downhill Mergulho corner approaching the last turn on to the start-finish straight.
Hamilton ended the session in 19th, trailing team-mate Charles Leclerc.
The McLaren drivers were well clear of the other competitors, with Nico Hulkenberg's car in third, over half a second slower than Piastri's pace.
Aston Martin's Fernando Alonso was fourth fastest, with Sauber's Gabriel Bortoleto ahead of Mercedes' George Russell and Alpine's Gasly and Williams' Carlos Sainz.
