Norris Leads Oscar Piastri in Sao Paulo Practice
Lando Norris has beaten Oscar Piastri at each of the past five race weekends.
The McLaren driver edged out team-mate and championship contender the Australian for the fastest time in the closing stages of practice at the Sao Paulo Grand Prix.
Norris, who grabbed the championship lead from his teammate by one point after taking the win in Mexico City recently, beat the Melbourne-born driver by a mere 0.023s.
Until that point, Oscar Piastri had been the quickest of the McLaren pair for most of the session before sprint qualifying due at 6:30 PM GMT.
The Red Bull star, the other racer in the championship fight, trailing 36 points Norris, was classified in P17 as his team ran a alternative strategy.
His teammate the Japanese driver was the only driver to go off, though minor, when he lost control at corner four early in the session.
Tsunoda spun out over the track edges before rotating through the gravel trap, and was blessed to get away with just a slight brush of the fence.
Ferrari's the seven-time champion also lost it, at the conclusion of the session, turning around through the quick descending Mergulho turn leading to the final bend on to the pit straight.
The veteran finished practice in 19th place, trailing teammate Charles Leclerc.
Norris and Piastri were well clear of the remaining drivers, with Nico Hulkenberg's car P3, 0.619 seconds slower than Piastri's best.
The Aston Martin of Fernando Alonso was fourth fastest, with Sauber's Bortoleto fifth from Mercedes' Russell and the Alpine of Pierre Gasly and Williams' Carlos Sainz.
