Lando Norris Edges Out Piastri in Sao Paulo Practice Session
The British driver has outscored Oscar Piastri at all of the past five race weekends.
The McLaren driver just pipped team-mate and title rival Oscar Piastri for the quickest lap in the closing stages of the practice session at the Sao Paulo Grand Prix.
The British racer, who grabbed the championship lead from his teammate by just one point after winning in the Mexican Grand Prix a fortnight back, beat 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 the points battle, lying with a 36-point deficit Norris, was classified in 17th place as his team followed a unique setup.
Verstappen's team-mate the Japanese driver was the only driver to crash, if briefly, when he rotated at Turn Four soon after starting.
Tsunoda spun out over the curbs on exit before spinning across the run-off area, and was blessed to get away with just a slight brush of the wall.
Ferrari's the seven-time champion also had a spin, at the very end of the session, turning around through the fast downhill Mergulho turn leading to the final bend on to the start-finish straight.
The seven-time champion ended the session in 19th, trailing team-mate the Monegasque driver.
The McLaren pair were far ahead of the remaining drivers, with Nico Hulkenberg's car P3, 0.619secs slower than the Australian's time.
The Aston Martin of Fernando Alonso was in fourth, with the Sauber of Gabriel Bortoleto in front of the Mercedes of George Russell and Alpine's Gasly and the Williams of Sainz.
