Lando Norris Edges Out Oscar Piastri in Sao Paulo Practice Session
The British driver has outperformed Oscar Piastri at all of the last five grands prix.
Lando Norris just pipped team-mate and championship contender Oscar Piastri for the top spot in the closing stages of the practice session at the Brazilian Grand Prix.
Norris, who took the title advantage from his teammate by one point after his victory in Mexico City a fortnight back, outpaced the Australian by a tiny margin of 0.023secs.
Before then, Oscar Piastri had been the fastest McLaren driver throughout the hour before the sprint shootout due at 18:30 GMT.
The Red Bull star, the only other driver in the points battle, lying with a 36-point deficit behind Norris, was classified in 17th place as his Red Bull team followed a different programme.
Verstappen's team-mate the Japanese driver was the sole competitor to have an incident, if briefly, when he lost control at the fourth corner soon after starting.
Tsunoda slid over the exit kerbs before spinning across the escape zone, and was lucky to avoid just a slight brush of the wall.
Ferrari's Lewis Hamilton also had a spin, at the final moments of the practice, rotating twice through the quick descending Mergulho turn before the final bend on to the main straight.
The seven-time champion finished practice in 19th place, trailing team-mate Charles Leclerc.
The McLaren pair were significantly quicker of the remaining drivers, with the German's Sauber third fastest, over half a second off the Australian's time.
Aston Martin's the Spanish driver was fourth quickest, with the Sauber of Gabriel Bortoleto ahead of Mercedes' Russell and Alpine's Pierre Gasly and the Williams of Sainz.
