Lando Norris Edges Out Oscar Piastri in Sao Paulo Practice Session
The British driver has beaten Oscar Piastri at each of the previous five race weekends.
The McLaren driver edged out team-mate and title rival Oscar Piastri for the fastest time in the final moments of the practice session at the Brazilian Grand Prix.
Norris, who took the points lead from his teammate by just one point after his victory in the Mexican Grand Prix a fortnight back, topped the Melbourne-born driver by a mere 0.023s.
Before then, Piastri had been the fastest McLaren driver throughout the hour before the sprint shootout due at 18:30 GMT.
Max Verstappen, the other racer in the championship fight, sitting 36 points behind Norris, finished in 17th position as his team opted for a alternative strategy.
Verstappen's team-mate the Japanese driver was the sole competitor to have an incident, though minor, when he rotated at Turn Four during the early running.
Tsunoda spun out over the track edges before spinning across the gravel trap, and was fortunate to get away with just a slight brush of the wall.
The Ferrari of Lewis Hamilton also lost it, at the very end of the session, spinning around through the fast downhill Mergulho corner approaching the last turn on to the start-finish straight.
The seven-time champion ended the session in 19th place, just behind team-mate Charles Leclerc.
The McLaren pair were far ahead of the rest of the field, with Nico Hulkenberg's Sauber P3, over half a second behind Piastri's pace.
Aston Martin's Fernando Alonso was fourth fastest, with the Sauber of Bortoleto fifth from the Mercedes of George Russell and Alpine's Pierre Gasly and the Williams of Carlos Sainz.
