Norris Leads Oscar Piastri in Brazilian Practice
Lando Norris has outscored Oscar Piastri at all of the past five grands prix.
Lando Norris narrowly beat fellow driver and championship contender Oscar Piastri for the fastest time in the closing stages of practice at the Sao Paulo Grand Prix.
The British racer, who seized the points lead from Piastri by just one point after his victory in the Mexican Grand Prix a fortnight back, beat the Melbourne-born driver by a tiny margin of 0.023secs.
Until that point, Piastri had been the leading McLaren throughout the hour before sprint qualifying scheduled for 6:30 PM GMT.
Max Verstappen, the only other driver in the championship fight, sitting with a 36-point deficit behind Norris, finished in 17th position as his Red Bull team ran a different programme.
His teammate the Japanese driver was the sole competitor to crash, though minor, when he spun at corner four early in the session.
Tsunoda lost control over the exit kerbs before rotating through the run-off area, and was fortunate to avoid just a light touch of the wall.
Ferrari's Lewis Hamilton also lost it, at the conclusion of the session, rotating twice through the fast downhill Mergulho corner before the final bend on to the main straight.
The veteran finished practice in P19, just behind teammate Charles Leclerc.
The McLaren drivers were well clear of the rest of the field, with the German's Sauber in third, over half a second behind the Australian's time.
Aston Martin's Fernando Alonso was fourth quickest, with the Sauber of Gabriel Bortoleto in front of the Mercedes of Russell and the Alpine of Pierre Gasly and the Williams of Carlos Sainz.
