Lando Norris Edges Out Piastri in Brazilian Practice Session
The British driver has outscored Oscar Piastri at each of the previous five grands prix.
Lando Norris edged out team-mate and title rival Oscar Piastri for the fastest time in the closing stages of practice at the Brazilian Grand Prix.
Norris, who grabbed the championship lead from his teammate by one point after winning in Mexico City two weeks ago, outpaced the Melbourne-born driver by 0.023 seconds.
Until that point, Oscar Piastri had been the leading McLaren throughout the hour before the sprint shootout scheduled for 6:30 PM GMT.
The Red Bull star, the other racer in the points battle, sitting 36 points behind Norris, was classified in 17th position as his Red Bull team ran a alternative strategy.
His teammate the Japanese driver was the sole competitor to go off, if briefly, when he rotated at Turn Four soon after starting.
Tsunoda spun out over the track edges before rotating through the escape zone, and was fortunate to get away with just a minor contact of the barrier.
The Ferrari of the seven-time champion also had a spin, at the final moments of the practice, turning around through the quick descending Mergulho corner leading to the final corner on to the start-finish straight.
The veteran finished practice in 19th place, just behind teammate the Monegasque driver.
Norris and Piastri were significantly quicker of the rest of the field, with Nico Hulkenberg's Sauber in third, 0.619 seconds behind the Australian's time.
Aston Martin's the Spanish driver was in fourth, with the Sauber of Gabriel Bortoleto fifth from Mercedes' Russell and Alpine's Pierre Gasly and the Williams of Carlos Sainz.
