Lando Norris Leads Piastri in Brazilian Practice Session
The British driver has beaten his teammate at all of the last five race weekends.
Lando Norris edged out fellow driver and championship contender Oscar Piastri for the top spot in the closing stages of the practice session at the Sao Paulo Grand Prix.
The British racer, who grabbed the points lead from his teammate by a single point after taking the win in Mexico City a fortnight back, outpaced the Melbourne-born driver by 0.023 seconds.
Until that point, Piastri had been the leading McLaren for most of the session before sprint qualifying due at 18:30 GMT.
Max Verstappen, the sole remaining contender in the points battle, lying 36 points behind Norris, was classified in P17 as his Red Bull team followed a different programme.
His teammate the Japanese driver was the sole competitor to go off, albeit lightly, when he lost control at corner four during the early running.
Tsunoda lost control over the track edges before sliding over the escape zone, and was blessed to avoid just a light touch of the wall.
The Ferrari of the seven-time champion also lost it, at the final moments of the session, rotating twice through the high-speed Mergulho turn before the final bend on to the main straight.
The veteran finished practice in 19th, just behind team-mate Charles Leclerc.
Norris and Piastri were significantly quicker of the other competitors, with the German's car third fastest, 0.619 seconds slower than Piastri's pace.
Aston Martin's Fernando Alonso was fourth fastest, with Sauber's Gabriel Bortoleto ahead of Mercedes' Russell and the Alpine of Gasly and Williams' Sainz.
