Norris Leads Oscar Piastri in Brazilian Practice Session
Lando Norris has beaten Oscar Piastri at each of the last five grands prix.
Lando Norris edged out fellow driver and championship contender the Australian for the fastest time in the final moments of practice at the Brazilian Grand Prix.
The British racer, who took the title advantage from Piastri by one point after his victory in the Mexican Grand Prix a fortnight back, beat the Australian by a tiny margin of 0.023secs.
Earlier in the session, Oscar Piastri had been the fastest McLaren driver throughout the hour before sprint qualifying due at the evening session.
Max Verstappen, the sole remaining contender in the points battle, sitting 36 points behind behind Norris, ended up in 17th place as his Red Bull team ran a alternative strategy.
Verstappen's team-mate the Japanese driver was the only driver to crash, albeit lightly, when he rotated at Turn Four soon after starting.
Tsunoda slid over the exit kerbs before rotating through the gravel trap, and was blessed to get away with just a slight brush of the wall.
Ferrari's Lewis Hamilton also lost it, at the very end of the session, rotating twice through the fast downhill corner before the final corner on to the start-finish straight.
The seven-time champion finished practice in P19, just behind team-mate the Monegasque driver.
Norris and Piastri were well clear of the other competitors, with the German's car third fastest, 0.619 seconds off Piastri's best.
Aston Martin's the Spanish driver was fourth fastest, with the Sauber of Bortoleto fifth from Mercedes' Russell and Alpine's Pierre Gasly and the Williams of Carlos Sainz.
