Norris Tops Oscar Piastri in Brazilian Practice
The British driver has beaten his teammate at each of the previous five race weekends.
Lando Norris narrowly beat team-mate and championship contender Oscar Piastri for the top spot in the final moments of practice at the Sao Paulo Grand Prix.
Norris, who seized the title advantage from his teammate by one point after his victory in Mexico City recently, topped the Australian by a tiny margin of 0.023secs.
Before then, Piastri had been the leading McLaren throughout the hour before the sprint shootout due at 6:30 PM GMT.
Max Verstappen, the only other driver in realistic title contention, sitting 36 points behind behind Norris, was classified in 17th position as his team ran a unique setup.
Verstappen's team-mate the Japanese driver was the only driver to have an incident, if briefly, when he spun at the fourth corner soon after starting.
Tsunoda lost control over the curbs on exit before sliding over the gravel trap, and was lucky to escape with just a minor contact of the barrier.
The Ferrari of the seven-time champion also spun, at the final moments of the practice, spinning around through the quick descending Mergulho turn leading to the last turn on to the start-finish straight.
The seven-time champion ended the session in 19th, one place behind teammate Charles Leclerc.
The McLaren drivers were well clear of the rest of the field, with Nico Hulkenberg's car P3, 0.619 seconds off Piastri's best.
The Aston Martin of the Spanish driver was fourth fastest, with Sauber's Bortoleto in front of Mercedes' Russell and Alpine's Pierre Gasly and the Williams of Carlos Sainz.
