Norris Edges Out Oscar Piastri in Sao Paulo Practice
The British driver has outperformed his teammate at all of the previous five race weekends.
Lando Norris edged out fellow driver and title rival the Australian for the top spot in the closing stages of practice at the Brazilian Grand Prix.
Norris, who grabbed the points lead from his teammate by one point after taking the win in Mexico City recently, beat the Melbourne-born driver by a tiny margin of 0.023secs.
Until that point, Piastri had been the quickest of the McLaren pair throughout the hour before sprint qualifying due at the evening session.
Max Verstappen, the other racer in the points battle, trailing 36 points behind behind Norris, ended up in 17th place as his team ran a unique setup.
Verstappen's team-mate the Japanese driver was the only driver to crash, albeit lightly, when he rotated at corner four early in the session.
Tsunoda slid over the track edges before spinning across the gravel trap, and was lucky to get away with just a light touch of the barrier.
The Ferrari of the seven-time champion also lost it, at the conclusion of the session, rotating twice through the fast downhill corner before the final bend on to the pit straight.
The seven-time champion ended the session in 19th place, one place behind team-mate the Monegasque driver.
Norris and Piastri were well clear of the other competitors, with Nico Hulkenberg's car third fastest, 0.619 seconds off Piastri's best.
Aston Martin's Fernando Alonso was fourth quickest, with the Sauber of Bortoleto fifth from Mercedes' Russell and the Alpine of Gasly and Williams' Carlos Sainz.
