Norris Tops Piastri in Brazilian Practice Session
Lando Norris has beaten Oscar Piastri at each of the past five race weekends.
Lando Norris narrowly beat fellow driver and championship contender the Australian for the quickest lap in the closing stages of the practice session at the Brazilian Grand Prix.
The British racer, who took the points lead from Piastri by one point after taking the win in Mexico City a fortnight back, outpaced the Australian by a mere 0.023s.
Earlier in the session, Piastri had been the fastest McLaren driver for most of the session before the sprint shootout scheduled for 18:30 GMT.
The Red Bull star, the only other driver in realistic title contention, trailing 36 points behind Norris, finished in 17th place as his team followed a different programme.
Verstappen's team-mate the Japanese driver was the sole competitor to go off, though minor, when he rotated at Turn Four during the early running.
Tsunoda spun out over the curbs on exit before sliding over the run-off area, and was blessed to escape with just a light touch of the barrier.
The Ferrari of the seven-time champion also had a spin, at the conclusion of the practice, turning around through the high-speed corner before the final corner on to the start-finish straight.
The veteran wrapped up in 19th, just behind team-mate the Monegasque driver.
The McLaren drivers were far ahead of the rest of the field, with Nico Hulkenberg's Sauber in third, 0.619secs slower than Piastri's pace.
Aston Martin's the Spanish driver was fourth fastest, with the Sauber of Bortoleto ahead of the Mercedes of Russell and the Alpine of Pierre Gasly and the Williams of Sainz.
