Lando Norris Leads Piastri in Sao Paulo Practice Session
The British driver has outperformed his teammate at each of the last five grands prix.
Lando Norris edged out fellow driver and championship contender the Australian for the quickest lap in the final moments of the practice session at the Brazilian Grand Prix.
Norris, who took the points lead from Piastri by just one point after winning in Mexico City a fortnight back, beat the Melbourne-born driver by a tiny margin of 0.023secs.
Until that point, Oscar Piastri had been the quickest of the McLaren pair during the running before the sprint shootout set to begin at 6:30 PM GMT.
The Red Bull star, the other racer in the championship fight, lying with a 36-point deficit behind Norris, was classified in 17th place as his Red Bull team opted for a unique setup.
Verstappen's team-mate the Japanese driver was the only driver to go off, albeit lightly, when he lost control at Turn Four soon after starting.
Tsunoda slid over the exit kerbs before sliding over the run-off area, and was blessed to get away with just a light touch of the barrier.
Ferrari's the seven-time champion also spun, at the final moments of the session, spinning around through the high-speed Mergulho corner approaching the final bend on to the start-finish straight.
The veteran ended the session in 19th, just behind team-mate Charles Leclerc.
The McLaren pair were significantly quicker of the rest of the field, with the German's car P3, 0.619secs slower than the Australian's time.
Aston Martin's the Spanish driver was fourth quickest, with Sauber's Gabriel Bortoleto in front of Mercedes' Russell and the Alpine of Pierre Gasly and Williams' Sainz.
