Lando Norris Tops Oscar Piastri in Brazilian Practice
Lando Norris has outscored Oscar Piastri at each of the previous five grands prix.
The McLaren driver edged out fellow driver and championship contender Oscar Piastri for the top spot in the closing stages of the practice session at the Brazilian Grand Prix.
Norris, who took the title advantage from Piastri by a single point after taking the win in the Mexican Grand Prix a fortnight back, beat the Melbourne-born driver by 0.023 seconds.
Before then, Piastri had been the leading McLaren during the running before sprint qualifying due at the evening session.
Max Verstappen, the only other driver in the points battle, sitting 36 points behind Norris, was classified in P17 as his Red Bull team ran a different programme.
Verstappen's team-mate the Japanese driver was the only driver to go off, if briefly, when he rotated at the fourth corner during the early running.
Tsunoda lost control over the track edges before spinning across the escape zone, and was lucky to avoid just a minor contact of the wall.
The Ferrari of Lewis Hamilton also spun, at the conclusion of the practice, rotating twice through the fast downhill Mergulho turn before the final bend on to the start-finish straight.
The seven-time champion wrapped up in 19th place, just behind teammate Charles Leclerc.
The McLaren pair were significantly quicker of the rest of the field, with Nico Hulkenberg's car third fastest, 0.619 seconds slower than the Australian's time.
Aston Martin's the Spanish driver was in fourth, with the Sauber of Gabriel Bortoleto in front of the Mercedes of George Russell and Alpine's Pierre Gasly and Williams' Sainz.
