Norris Edges Out Piastri in Brazilian Practice
Lando Norris has beaten his teammate at each of the past five race weekends.
Lando Norris just pipped 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 grabbed the points lead from his teammate by a single point after taking the win in Mexico City a fortnight back, topped the Australian by a mere 0.023s.
Until that point, Oscar Piastri had been the leading McLaren during the running before sprint qualifying scheduled for the evening session.
The Red Bull star, the sole remaining contender in realistic title contention, lying 36 points behind Norris, was classified in 17th place as his Red Bull team ran a alternative strategy.
His teammate the Japanese driver was the only driver to crash, albeit lightly, when he rotated at corner four soon after starting.
Tsunoda slid over the track edges before sliding over the gravel trap, and was lucky to get away with just a light touch of the barrier.
Ferrari's the seven-time champion also had a spin, at the very end of the practice, spinning around through the quick descending Mergulho corner approaching the final corner on to the pit straight.
The seven-time champion ended the session in P19, trailing teammate the Monegasque driver.
Norris and Piastri were far ahead of the remaining drivers, with Nico Hulkenberg's car P3, over half a second slower than Piastri's best.
The Aston Martin of the Spanish driver was fourth fastest, with the Sauber of Gabriel Bortoleto fifth from Mercedes' Russell and Alpine's Gasly and the Williams of Sainz.
