Norris Leads Oscar Piastri in Sao Paulo Practice
The British driver has outperformed his teammate at each of the previous five grands prix.
The McLaren driver edged out team-mate and championship contender Oscar Piastri for the fastest time in the dying seconds of practice at the Sao Paulo Grand Prix.
The British racer, who seized the title advantage from Piastri by one point after winning in the Mexican Grand Prix recently, beat the Australian by 0.023 seconds.
Before then, Piastri had been the leading McLaren for most of the session 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 17th place as his team opted for a different programme.
His teammate the Japanese driver was the only driver to go off, albeit lightly, when he lost control at Turn Four soon after starting.
Tsunoda spun out over the curbs on exit before sliding over the run-off area, and was blessed to get away with just a light touch of the fence.
The Ferrari of Lewis Hamilton also spun, at the final moments of the practice, rotating twice through the high-speed Mergulho turn leading to the final bend on to the main straight.
Hamilton wrapped up in P19, trailing team-mate the Monegasque driver.
Norris and Piastri were significantly quicker of the remaining drivers, with the German's Sauber third fastest, over half a second off the Australian's time.
The Aston Martin of Fernando Alonso was fourth fastest, with Sauber's Bortoleto in front of Mercedes' Russell and the Alpine of Gasly and the Williams of Sainz.
