Norris Leads Oscar Piastri in Sao Paulo Practice Session
Lando Norris has outperformed Oscar Piastri at each of the last five grands prix.
The McLaren driver narrowly beat fellow driver and championship contender the Australian for the quickest lap in the closing stages of practice at the Sao Paulo Grand Prix.
Norris, who took the title advantage from Piastri by one point after taking the win in Mexico City recently, outpaced the Melbourne-born driver by a mere 0.023s.
Earlier in the session, Oscar Piastri had been the leading McLaren for most of the session before sprint qualifying set to begin at 18:30 GMT.
The Red Bull star, the sole remaining contender in the championship fight, trailing with a 36-point deficit behind Norris, was classified in 17th place as his team ran a unique setup.
His teammate the Japanese driver was the only driver to have an incident, albeit lightly, when he spun at the fourth corner soon after starting.
Tsunoda lost control over the curbs on exit before sliding over the gravel trap, and was fortunate to get away with just a slight brush of the wall.
The Ferrari of the seven-time champion also spun, at the final moments of the session, rotating twice through the quick descending corner before the last turn on to the start-finish straight.
The seven-time champion wrapped up in P19, one place behind teammate the Monegasque driver.
Norris and Piastri were far ahead of the rest of the field, with Nico Hulkenberg's Sauber P3, over half a second behind the Australian's time.
The Aston Martin of the Spanish driver was in fourth, with Sauber's Bortoleto fifth from the Mercedes of George Russell and Alpine's Pierre Gasly and Williams' Carlos Sainz.
