Norris Leads Oscar Piastri in Sao Paulo Practice
Lando Norris has outperformed Oscar Piastri at each of the last five grands prix.
The McLaren driver narrowly beat team-mate and championship contender Oscar Piastri for the fastest time in the closing stages of practice at the Brazilian Grand Prix.
Norris, who grabbed the points lead from Piastri by a single point after his victory in the Mexican Grand Prix two weeks ago, outpaced the Australian by a mere 0.023s.
Before then, Oscar Piastri had been the fastest McLaren driver throughout the hour before the sprint shootout set to begin at 18:30 GMT.
The Red Bull star, the sole remaining contender in the championship fight, sitting 36 points behind Norris, finished in 17th position as his team ran a unique setup.
Verstappen's team-mate the Japanese driver was the only driver to crash, if briefly, when he lost control at Turn Four soon after starting.
Tsunoda slid over the track edges before sliding over the run-off area, and was fortunate to escape with just a light touch of the fence.
Ferrari's Lewis Hamilton also spun, at the conclusion of the session, turning around through the fast downhill Mergulho corner before the last turn on to the start-finish straight.
The veteran wrapped up in 19th place, trailing team-mate Charles Leclerc.
The McLaren pair were far ahead of the rest of the field, with the German's Sauber third fastest, over half a second off the Australian's time.
The Aston Martin of the Spanish driver was fourth fastest, with Sauber's Gabriel Bortoleto ahead of the Mercedes of Russell and the Alpine of Gasly and Williams' Carlos Sainz.
