Lando Norris Leads Oscar Piastri in Brazilian Practice Session
The British driver has outperformed Oscar Piastri at all of the previous five grands prix.
Lando Norris edged out fellow driver and title rival the Australian for the quickest lap in the closing stages of the practice session at the Brazilian Grand Prix.
The British racer, who grabbed the championship lead from Piastri by one point after taking the win in Mexico City a fortnight back, beat the Melbourne-born driver by a tiny margin of 0.023secs.
Until that point, Oscar Piastri had been the fastest McLaren driver throughout the hour before sprint qualifying due at the evening session.
The Red Bull star, the other racer in realistic title contention, lying 36 points behind behind Norris, finished in P17 as his Red Bull team opted for a different programme.
Verstappen's team-mate the Japanese driver was the sole competitor to go off, albeit lightly, when he lost control at Turn Four soon after starting.
Tsunoda lost control over the track edges before rotating through the escape zone, and was blessed to escape with just a light touch of the barrier.
The Ferrari of the seven-time champion also lost it, at the final moments of the practice, rotating twice through the fast downhill Mergulho turn leading to the last turn on to the main straight.
The veteran finished practice in 19th, trailing teammate Charles Leclerc.
The McLaren drivers were significantly quicker of the remaining drivers, with the German's Sauber third fastest, 0.619secs behind Piastri's best.
The Aston Martin of Fernando Alonso was fourth fastest, with the Sauber of Gabriel Bortoleto fifth from the Mercedes of Russell and Alpine's Gasly and Williams' Carlos Sainz.
