Lando Norris Edges Out Piastri in Brazilian Practice
Lando Norris has outperformed Oscar Piastri at all of the previous five race weekends.
Lando Norris just pipped fellow driver and title rival the Australian for the top spot in the dying seconds of practice at the Sao Paulo Grand Prix.
The British racer, who grabbed the points lead from his teammate by a single point after winning in the Mexican Grand Prix a fortnight back, beat the Melbourne-born driver by a mere 0.023s.
Until that point, Piastri had been the fastest McLaren driver during the running before the sprint shootout due at 18:30 GMT.
Max Verstappen, the only other driver in realistic title contention, sitting 36 points behind behind Norris, was classified in P17 as his Red Bull team ran a unique setup.
Verstappen's team-mate the Japanese driver was the sole competitor to crash, if briefly, when he lost control at the fourth corner early in the session.
Tsunoda spun out over the track edges before spinning across the escape zone, and was blessed to escape with just a minor contact of the wall.
Ferrari's the seven-time champion also had a spin, at the final moments of the session, turning around through the fast downhill Mergulho turn approaching the final bend on to the main straight.
The seven-time champion wrapped up in 19th place, one place behind teammate the Monegasque driver.
The McLaren drivers were well clear of the rest of the field, with the German's car P3, 0.619 seconds slower than Piastri's pace.
The Aston Martin of Fernando Alonso was fourth fastest, with the Sauber of Bortoleto in front of the Mercedes of Russell and Alpine's Pierre Gasly and the Williams of Sainz.