Norris Leads Piastri in Sao Paulo Practice
Lando Norris has outperformed Oscar Piastri at each of the last five grands prix.
The McLaren driver narrowly beat team-mate and championship contender the Australian for the top spot in the dying seconds of the practice session at the Brazilian Grand Prix.
The British racer, who took the title advantage from his teammate by one point after his victory in Mexico City a fortnight back, topped the Melbourne-born driver by a mere 0.023s.
Until that point, Oscar Piastri had been the leading McLaren during the running before the sprint shootout due at the evening session.
The Red Bull star, the sole remaining contender in the championship fight, trailing with a 36-point deficit behind Norris, was classified in 17th position as his team followed a unique setup.
Verstappen's team-mate the Japanese driver was the only driver to have an incident, if briefly, when he lost control at Turn Four soon after starting.
Tsunoda spun out over the exit kerbs before spinning across the gravel trap, and was fortunate to escape with just a minor contact of the barrier.
The Ferrari of Lewis Hamilton also lost it, at the conclusion of the practice, rotating twice through the quick descending Mergulho corner approaching the final bend on to the pit straight.
Hamilton finished practice in 19th place, trailing team-mate the Monegasque driver.
Norris and Piastri were far ahead of the other competitors, with the German's car P3, 0.619 seconds off the Australian's time.
Aston Martin's the Spanish driver was in fourth, with Sauber's Bortoleto fifth from Mercedes' Russell and Alpine's Gasly and the Williams of Carlos Sainz.
