Norris Edges Out Piastri in Brazilian Practice
The British driver has beaten his teammate at each of the last five race weekends.
Lando Norris just pipped team-mate and title rival Oscar Piastri for the quickest lap in the final moments of the practice session at the Sao Paulo Grand Prix.
Norris, who took the points lead from his teammate by one point after his victory in the Mexican Grand Prix recently, outpaced the Australian by a mere 0.023s.
Until that point, Piastri had been the leading McLaren throughout the hour before sprint qualifying set to begin at 6:30 PM GMT.
Max Verstappen, the sole remaining contender in the championship fight, sitting 36 points behind behind Norris, finished in 17th position as his Red Bull team followed a different programme.
His teammate the Japanese driver was the only driver to go off, albeit lightly, when he spun at the fourth corner soon after starting.
Tsunoda slid over the curbs on exit before spinning across the escape zone, and was lucky to avoid just a slight brush of the fence.
Ferrari's Lewis Hamilton also had a spin, at the final moments of the session, rotating twice through the fast downhill Mergulho corner leading to the last turn on to the main straight.
Hamilton finished practice in 19th place, one place behind teammate Charles Leclerc.
Norris and Piastri were significantly quicker of the other competitors, with Nico Hulkenberg's Sauber in third, 0.619secs off Piastri's pace.
The Aston Martin of Fernando Alonso was fourth quickest, with the Sauber of Bortoleto fifth from the Mercedes of Russell and the Alpine of Gasly and Williams' Sainz.
