Norris Edges Out Piastri in Sao Paulo Practice Session
Lando Norris has outperformed his teammate at all of the past five race weekends.
Lando Norris edged out fellow driver and championship contender Oscar Piastri for the fastest time in the dying seconds of the practice session at the Sao Paulo Grand Prix.
Norris, who took the title advantage from his teammate by one point after taking the win in the Mexican Grand Prix a fortnight back, beat the Australian by 0.023 seconds.
Until that point, Piastri had been the leading McLaren during the running before sprint qualifying due at 18:30 GMT.
Max Verstappen, the sole remaining contender in the championship fight, lying 36 points Norris, was classified in 17th place as his Red Bull team followed a different programme.
Verstappen's team-mate the Japanese driver was the only driver to go off, though minor, when he lost control at Turn Four during the early running.
Tsunoda lost control over the track edges before rotating through the gravel trap, and was fortunate to escape with just a minor contact of the barrier.
The Ferrari of Lewis Hamilton also had a spin, at the final moments of the practice, rotating twice through the high-speed corner leading to the final bend on to the start-finish straight.
The seven-time champion finished practice in P19, trailing teammate Charles Leclerc.
Norris and Piastri were well clear of the rest of the field, with the German's Sauber P3, 0.619 seconds slower than the Australian's time.
The Aston Martin of Fernando Alonso was fourth quickest, with the Sauber of Gabriel Bortoleto ahead of Mercedes' George Russell and Alpine's Gasly and Williams' Sainz.
