Lando Norris Leads Piastri in Sao Paulo Practice Session
Lando Norris has outperformed Oscar Piastri at all of the previous five race weekends.
Lando Norris just pipped fellow driver and title rival Oscar Piastri for the top spot in the closing stages of the practice session at the Sao Paulo Grand Prix.
Norris, who grabbed the championship lead from his teammate by a single point after winning in the Mexican Grand Prix a fortnight back, topped the Australian by a mere 0.023s.
Earlier in the session, Oscar Piastri had been the leading McLaren during the running before the sprint shootout scheduled for the evening session.
The Red Bull star, the only other driver in the points battle, trailing 36 points behind Norris, ended up in 17th place as his team followed a unique setup.
Verstappen's team-mate the Japanese driver was the sole competitor to crash, though minor, when he spun at corner four during the early running.
Tsunoda lost control over the track edges before spinning across the escape zone, and was blessed to avoid just a minor contact of the wall.
Ferrari's Lewis Hamilton also lost it, at the final moments of the practice, rotating twice through the quick descending Mergulho turn before the final bend on to the main straight.
Hamilton finished practice in 19th, just behind team-mate Charles Leclerc.
The McLaren drivers were significantly quicker of the rest of the field, with Nico Hulkenberg's Sauber in third, 0.619secs behind Piastri's pace.
The Aston Martin of the Spanish driver was fourth fastest, with the Sauber of Gabriel Bortoleto fifth from the Mercedes of George Russell and the Alpine of Gasly and Williams' Carlos Sainz.
