Norris Edges Out Piastri in Brazilian Practice Session
The British driver has outscored his teammate at all of the past five race weekends.
Lando Norris edged out fellow driver and title rival the Australian for the fastest time in the closing stages of practice at the Sao Paulo Grand Prix.
The British racer, who seized the title advantage from Piastri by one point after taking the win in Mexico City two weeks ago, beat the Australian by 0.023 seconds.
Before then, Oscar Piastri had been the leading McLaren for most of the session before the sprint shootout due at the evening session.
The Red Bull star, the other racer in the championship fight, lying 36 points behind Norris, was classified in 17th place as his Red Bull team followed a unique setup.
Verstappen's team-mate the Japanese driver was the sole competitor to crash, if briefly, when he spun at the fourth corner soon after starting.
Tsunoda slid over the exit kerbs before rotating through the escape zone, and was blessed to get away with just a minor contact of the barrier.
Ferrari's the seven-time champion also had a spin, at the final moments of the session, rotating twice through the fast downhill corner approaching the final corner on to the pit straight.
The veteran wrapped up in 19th place, just behind teammate Charles Leclerc.
Norris and Piastri were well clear of the remaining drivers, with the German's car P3, over half a second behind Piastri's best.
The Aston Martin of the Spanish driver was in fourth, with the Sauber of Bortoleto ahead of Mercedes' Russell and the Alpine of Pierre Gasly and the Williams of Sainz.
