Norris Edges Out Oscar Piastri in Sao Paulo Practice Session
Lando Norris has beaten his teammate at each of the last five race weekends.
Lando Norris edged out team-mate and title rival Oscar Piastri for the fastest time in the closing stages of practice at the Sao Paulo Grand Prix.
The British racer, who took the points lead from Piastri by one point after his victory in Mexico City recently, topped the Australian by a mere 0.023s.
Until that point, Piastri had been the quickest of the McLaren pair during the running before sprint qualifying set to begin at the evening session.
The Red Bull star, the other racer in realistic title contention, lying 36 points behind Norris, ended up in P17 as his team opted for a alternative strategy.
His teammate the Japanese driver was the sole competitor to go off, if briefly, when he spun at corner four soon after starting.
Tsunoda spun out over the exit kerbs before spinning across the run-off area, and was blessed to get away with just a minor contact of the fence.
Ferrari's Lewis Hamilton also lost it, at the conclusion of the session, spinning around through the quick descending Mergulho turn approaching the last turn on to the main straight.
Hamilton ended the session in 19th, trailing team-mate the Monegasque driver.
Norris and Piastri were significantly quicker of the rest of the field, with the German's Sauber P3, 0.619 seconds slower than the Australian's time.
Aston Martin's Fernando Alonso was in fourth, with the Sauber of Gabriel Bortoleto ahead of Mercedes' George Russell and the Alpine of Gasly and Williams' Sainz.
