Norris Leads Oscar Piastri in Brazilian Practice Session
Lando Norris has beaten Oscar Piastri at all of the last five grands prix.
The McLaren driver edged out fellow driver and championship contender Oscar Piastri for the top spot in the final moments of practice at the Brazilian Grand Prix.
Norris, who took the title advantage from his teammate by just one point after taking the win in Mexico City recently, beat the Australian by 0.023 seconds.
Until that point, Piastri had been the quickest of the McLaren pair throughout the hour before sprint qualifying due at 18:30 GMT.
Max Verstappen, the only other driver in realistic title contention, sitting 36 points Norris, finished in 17th position as his team followed a different programme.
His teammate the Japanese driver was the sole competitor to have an incident, albeit lightly, when he spun at corner four during the early running.
Tsunoda lost control over the track edges before sliding over the run-off area, and was fortunate to avoid just a slight brush of the fence.
Ferrari's Lewis Hamilton also spun, at the final moments of the session, spinning around through the fast downhill corner before the last turn on to the pit straight.
Hamilton wrapped up in 19th, trailing team-mate the Monegasque driver.
Norris and Piastri were significantly quicker of the other competitors, with Nico Hulkenberg's car in third, 0.619 seconds off Piastri's pace.
The Aston Martin of the Spanish driver was fourth quickest, with the Sauber of Bortoleto ahead of the Mercedes of Russell and the Alpine of Pierre Gasly and Williams' Carlos Sainz.
