Lando Norris Edges Out Piastri in Brazilian Practice
Lando Norris has outperformed his teammate at all of the last five grands prix.
The McLaren driver narrowly beat team-mate and title rival the Australian for the top spot in the final moments of practice at the Sao Paulo Grand Prix.
Norris, who grabbed the points lead from Piastri by one point after his victory in Mexico City two weeks ago, outpaced the Melbourne-born driver by a tiny margin of 0.023secs.
Before then, Oscar Piastri had been the leading McLaren for most of the session before sprint qualifying set to begin at the evening session.
The Red Bull star, the only other driver in the championship fight, lying 36 points Norris, ended up in 17th position as his Red Bull team opted for a alternative strategy.
His teammate the Japanese driver was the sole competitor to go off, albeit lightly, when he rotated at the fourth corner soon after starting.
Tsunoda slid over the curbs on exit before sliding over the escape zone, and was blessed to escape with just a minor contact of the wall.
The Ferrari of Lewis Hamilton also lost it, at the conclusion of the session, rotating twice through the high-speed Mergulho turn approaching the last turn on to the start-finish straight.
Hamilton finished practice in 19th, one place behind teammate Charles Leclerc.
The McLaren pair were far ahead of the remaining drivers, with Nico Hulkenberg's car in third, over half a second slower than Piastri's best.
Aston Martin's Fernando Alonso was in fourth, with Sauber's Bortoleto ahead of Mercedes' Russell and the Alpine of Pierre Gasly and Williams' Sainz.
