Lando Norris Leads Piastri in Sao Paulo Practice Session
Lando Norris has outperformed Oscar Piastri at all of the previous five grands prix.
Lando Norris edged out team-mate and title rival the Australian for the quickest lap in the closing stages of the practice session at the Brazilian Grand Prix.
Norris, who seized the title advantage from Piastri by a single point after winning in the Mexican Grand Prix a fortnight back, topped the Melbourne-born driver by 0.023 seconds.
Before then, Oscar Piastri had been the quickest of the McLaren pair throughout the hour before the sprint shootout set to begin at 18:30 GMT.
The Red Bull star, the other racer in realistic title contention, trailing with a 36-point deficit behind Norris, ended up in P17 as his team ran a alternative strategy.
His teammate the Japanese driver was the sole competitor to crash, though minor, when he rotated at Turn Four early in the session.
Tsunoda lost control over the curbs on exit before spinning across the escape zone, and was fortunate to get away with just a slight brush of the barrier.
Ferrari's the seven-time champion also had a spin, at the conclusion of the session, turning around through the quick descending corner approaching the final corner on to the main straight.
The seven-time champion finished practice in P19, trailing team-mate the Monegasque driver.
Norris and Piastri were significantly quicker of the other competitors, with the German's car third fastest, 0.619secs off Piastri's best.
The Aston Martin of Fernando Alonso was fourth quickest, with Sauber's Gabriel Bortoleto fifth from the Mercedes of Russell and Alpine's Pierre Gasly and the Williams of Sainz.
