Norris Edges Out Piastri in Sao Paulo Practice Session
Lando Norris has beaten his teammate at all of the past five grands prix.
Lando Norris edged out team-mate and championship contender the Australian for the top spot in the dying seconds of practice at the Sao Paulo Grand Prix.
Norris, who grabbed the points lead from Piastri by one point after his victory in the Mexican Grand Prix two weeks ago, outpaced the Australian by a mere 0.023s.
Until that point, Piastri had been the quickest of the McLaren pair throughout the hour before sprint qualifying due at 6:30 PM GMT.
The Red Bull star, the other racer in realistic title contention, lying with a 36-point deficit behind Norris, was classified in 17th place as his team ran a unique setup.
Verstappen's team-mate the Japanese driver was the sole competitor to have an incident, albeit lightly, when he rotated at the fourth corner during the early running.
Tsunoda spun out over the exit kerbs before spinning across the escape zone, and was fortunate to avoid just a slight brush of the barrier.
The Ferrari of Lewis Hamilton also spun, at the conclusion of the practice, rotating twice through the high-speed Mergulho corner leading to the last turn on to the pit straight.
The seven-time champion finished practice in P19, just behind teammate the Monegasque driver.
The McLaren pair were far ahead of the remaining drivers, with the German's car third fastest, 0.619secs slower than Piastri's best.
The Aston Martin of the Spanish driver was in fourth, with the Sauber of Gabriel Bortoleto ahead of Mercedes' George Russell and the Alpine of Pierre Gasly and the Williams of Sainz.