Lando Norris Leads Oscar Piastri in Sao Paulo Practice Session
Lando Norris has beaten his teammate at all of the past five grands prix.
The McLaren driver just pipped team-mate and championship contender Oscar Piastri for the fastest time in the dying seconds of the practice session at the Sao Paulo Grand Prix.
The British racer, who took the championship lead from his teammate by just one point after his victory in Mexico City recently, outpaced the Australian by 0.023 seconds.
Until that point, Oscar Piastri had been the fastest McLaren driver during the running before the sprint shootout scheduled for the evening session.
The Red Bull star, the only other driver in realistic title contention, trailing with a 36-point deficit Norris, finished in 17th position as his Red Bull team opted for a alternative strategy.
His teammate the Japanese driver was the only driver to have an incident, albeit lightly, when he lost control at corner four during the early running.
Tsunoda spun out over the curbs on exit before sliding over the gravel trap, and was lucky to avoid just a minor contact of the barrier.
The Ferrari of Lewis Hamilton also had a spin, at the final moments of the session, rotating twice through the fast downhill Mergulho corner leading to the last turn on to the pit straight.
The seven-time champion finished practice in P19, just behind team-mate Charles Leclerc.
The McLaren drivers were well clear of the rest of the field, with Nico Hulkenberg's Sauber third fastest, 0.619secs off Piastri's pace.
Aston Martin's the Spanish driver was fourth quickest, with Sauber's Gabriel Bortoleto in front of the Mercedes of George Russell and Alpine's Gasly and the Williams of Sainz.
