Norris Edges Out Piastri in Sao Paulo Practice
The British driver has beaten his teammate at all of the past five grands prix.
The McLaren driver edged out team-mate and title rival the Australian for the top spot in the final moments of the practice session at the Brazilian Grand Prix.
The British racer, who seized the championship lead from his teammate by a single point after his victory in the Mexican Grand Prix a fortnight back, beat the Melbourne-born driver by a tiny margin of 0.023secs.
Before then, Oscar Piastri had been the fastest McLaren driver throughout the hour before the sprint shootout set to begin at the evening session.
Max Verstappen, the sole remaining contender in realistic title contention, trailing 36 points behind behind Norris, finished in P17 as his Red Bull team opted for a different programme.
His teammate the Japanese driver was the sole competitor to go off, if briefly, when he lost control at corner four during the early running.
Tsunoda slid over the track edges before spinning across the run-off area, and was blessed to get away with just a slight brush of the fence.
Ferrari's Lewis Hamilton also lost it, at the final moments of the practice, spinning around through the high-speed corner approaching the last turn on to the main straight.
Hamilton wrapped up in 19th place, just behind teammate the Monegasque driver.
Norris and Piastri were well clear of the other competitors, with the German's car third fastest, 0.619secs off Piastri's best.
The Aston Martin of the Spanish driver was in fourth, with the Sauber of Bortoleto in front of Mercedes' George Russell and Alpine's Pierre Gasly and Williams' Sainz.
