Norris Leads Oscar Piastri in Brazilian Practice
Lando Norris has beaten Oscar Piastri at all of the past five grands prix.
The McLaren driver edged out fellow driver and championship contender the Australian for the quickest lap in the closing stages of the practice session at the Sao Paulo Grand Prix.
The British racer, who seized the title advantage from his teammate by just one point after his victory in Mexico City a fortnight back, beat the Australian by 0.023 seconds.
Until that point, Oscar Piastri had been the fastest McLaren driver for most of the session before the sprint shootout scheduled for the evening session.
The Red Bull star, the only other driver in the championship fight, trailing with a 36-point deficit Norris, finished in P17 as his team followed a different programme.
His teammate the Japanese driver was the sole competitor to have an incident, if briefly, when he spun at the fourth corner early in the session.
Tsunoda slid over the exit kerbs before spinning across the gravel trap, and was fortunate to escape with just a slight brush of the barrier.
Ferrari's Lewis Hamilton also had a spin, at the very end of the practice, spinning around through the quick descending Mergulho turn leading to the last turn on to the start-finish straight.
Hamilton finished practice in P19, one place behind teammate Charles Leclerc.
The McLaren drivers were far ahead of the other competitors, with the German's car in third, 0.619 seconds behind Piastri's best.
Aston Martin's Fernando Alonso was fourth fastest, with the Sauber of Bortoleto fifth from Mercedes' Russell and Alpine's Gasly and Williams' Sainz.