Norris Leads Oscar Piastri in Sao Paulo Practice Session
The British driver has beaten Oscar Piastri at all of the past five grands prix.
Lando Norris narrowly beat team-mate 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 his teammate by just one point after winning in the Mexican Grand Prix two weeks ago, topped the Australian by a mere 0.023s.
Earlier in the session, Oscar Piastri had been the leading McLaren throughout the hour before the sprint shootout due at 18:30 GMT.
The Red Bull star, the sole remaining contender in realistic title contention, trailing with a 36-point deficit Norris, was classified in P17 as his team opted for a alternative strategy.
His teammate the Japanese driver was the only driver to have an incident, albeit lightly, when he spun at corner four early in the session.
Tsunoda slid over the curbs on exit before sliding over the run-off area, and was fortunate to get away with just a minor contact of the barrier.
Ferrari's Lewis Hamilton also lost it, at the final moments of the session, spinning around through the fast downhill corner approaching the final corner on to the pit straight.
Hamilton ended the session in P19, one place behind teammate Charles Leclerc.
Norris and Piastri were well clear of the remaining drivers, with Nico Hulkenberg's car P3, 0.619 seconds off Piastri's pace.
The Aston Martin of Fernando Alonso was fourth fastest, with the Sauber of Gabriel Bortoleto fifth from the Mercedes of Russell and Alpine's Gasly and the Williams of Carlos Sainz.
