Norris Edges Out Oscar Piastri in Sao Paulo Practice
Lando Norris has outperformed Oscar Piastri at each of the last five race weekends.
The McLaren driver edged out fellow driver and championship contender the Australian for the fastest time in the dying seconds of practice at the Brazilian Grand Prix.
Norris, who grabbed the points lead from Piastri by a single point after his victory in Mexico City a fortnight back, beat the Australian by a mere 0.023s.
Earlier in the session, Piastri had been the leading McLaren for most of the session before the sprint shootout due at the evening session.
Max Verstappen, the other racer in realistic title contention, lying 36 points behind Norris, was classified in P17 as his team ran a alternative strategy.
Verstappen's team-mate the Japanese driver was the only driver to crash, albeit lightly, when he rotated at corner four soon after starting.
Tsunoda lost control over the exit kerbs before sliding over the gravel trap, and was lucky to avoid just a light touch of the fence.
The Ferrari of the seven-time champion also lost it, at the conclusion of the session, spinning around through the quick descending Mergulho turn leading to the final bend on to the start-finish straight.
The seven-time champion ended the session in 19th, trailing teammate the Monegasque driver.
Norris and Piastri were significantly quicker of the remaining drivers, with the German's car P3, 0.619secs behind Piastri's pace.
The Aston Martin of Fernando Alonso was fourth quickest, with Sauber's Gabriel Bortoleto in front of the Mercedes of George Russell and Alpine's Pierre Gasly and Williams' Carlos Sainz.
