Lando Norris Leads Oscar Piastri in Sao Paulo Practice
The British driver has beaten Oscar Piastri at each of the last five grands prix.
Lando Norris narrowly beat fellow driver and championship contender Oscar Piastri for the top spot in the closing stages of the practice session at the Sao Paulo Grand Prix.
Norris, who grabbed the championship lead from his teammate by just one point after his victory in Mexico City recently, beat the Australian by 0.023 seconds.
Before then, Oscar Piastri had been the fastest McLaren driver for most of the session before the sprint shootout set to begin at the evening session.
Max Verstappen, the sole remaining contender in the championship fight, sitting 36 points behind Norris, was classified in P17 as his team followed a alternative strategy.
Verstappen's team-mate the Japanese driver was the only driver to crash, albeit lightly, when he spun at corner four early in the session.
Tsunoda slid over the curbs on exit before rotating through the run-off area, and was fortunate to avoid just a slight brush of the wall.
Ferrari's Lewis Hamilton also had a spin, at the very end of the practice, turning around through the fast downhill corner approaching the final bend on to the main straight.
Hamilton wrapped up in 19th place, trailing teammate Charles Leclerc.
The McLaren drivers were far ahead of the remaining drivers, with the German's car P3, over half a second behind Piastri's pace.
The Aston Martin of Fernando Alonso was fourth fastest, with the Sauber of Gabriel Bortoleto in front of the Mercedes of Russell and the Alpine of Gasly and Williams' Sainz.
