Lando Norris Edges Out Oscar Piastri in Sao Paulo Practice
The British driver has outperformed his teammate at each of the previous five grands prix.
Lando Norris just pipped team-mate and championship contender Oscar Piastri for the top spot in the final moments of the practice session at the Brazilian Grand Prix.
The British racer, who took the points lead from his teammate by just one point after his victory in the Mexican Grand Prix recently, outpaced the Australian by a tiny margin of 0.023secs.
Before then, Oscar Piastri had been the leading McLaren during the running before the sprint shootout set to begin at the evening session.
The Red Bull star, the only other driver in the points battle, sitting 36 points behind Norris, finished in 17th place as his Red Bull team ran a alternative strategy.
Verstappen's team-mate the Japanese driver was the sole competitor to have an incident, though minor, when he lost control at corner four soon after starting.
Tsunoda spun out over the curbs on exit before rotating through the run-off area, and was blessed to avoid just a slight brush of the wall.
Ferrari's the seven-time champion also spun, at the very end of the practice, spinning around through the high-speed Mergulho turn approaching the final bend on to the start-finish straight.
The seven-time champion finished practice in P19, just behind team-mate the Monegasque driver.
Norris and Piastri were far ahead of the remaining drivers, with Nico Hulkenberg's car in third, 0.619secs behind the Australian's time.
Aston Martin's the Spanish driver was in fourth, with the Sauber of Gabriel Bortoleto fifth from the Mercedes of Russell and the Alpine of Pierre Gasly and Williams' Carlos Sainz.
