Lando Norris Edges Out Oscar Piastri in Brazilian Practice
The British driver has outperformed Oscar Piastri at each of the past five grands prix.
Lando Norris edged out fellow driver and championship contender the Australian for the top spot in the closing stages of practice at the Sao Paulo Grand Prix.
Norris, who took the title advantage from Piastri by just one point after taking the win in Mexico City two weeks ago, beat the Melbourne-born driver by 0.023 seconds.
Before then, Oscar Piastri had been the quickest of the McLaren pair during the running before sprint qualifying scheduled for 6:30 PM GMT.
Max Verstappen, the only other driver in realistic title contention, trailing with a 36-point deficit Norris, ended up in P17 as his team opted for a different programme.
Verstappen's team-mate the Japanese driver was the sole competitor to have an incident, if briefly, when he rotated at Turn Four soon after starting.
Tsunoda slid over the exit kerbs before spinning across the run-off area, and was fortunate to get away with just a slight brush of the fence.
The Ferrari of the seven-time champion also spun, at the conclusion of the practice, rotating twice through the fast downhill corner approaching the last turn on to the pit straight.
The seven-time champion ended the session in 19th place, just behind team-mate Charles Leclerc.
Norris and Piastri were well clear of the other competitors, with the German's car third fastest, 0.619secs off the Australian's time.
Aston Martin's the Spanish driver was fourth fastest, with Sauber's Gabriel Bortoleto in front of Mercedes' George Russell and Alpine's Gasly and the Williams of Sainz.
