Norris Tops Piastri in Sao Paulo Practice Session
Lando Norris has beaten his teammate at each of the previous five race weekends.
The McLaren driver narrowly beat team-mate and championship contender the Australian for the quickest lap in the closing stages of practice at the Sao Paulo Grand Prix.
Norris, who grabbed the points lead from Piastri by one point after taking the win in Mexico City recently, topped the Melbourne-born driver by a mere 0.023s.
Before then, Piastri had been the leading McLaren throughout the hour before sprint qualifying set to begin at 6:30 PM GMT.
The Red Bull star, the sole remaining contender in realistic title contention, sitting with a 36-point deficit 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 crash, albeit lightly, when he lost control at the fourth corner soon after starting.
Tsunoda slid over the track edges before rotating through the run-off area, and was blessed to get away with just a light touch of the barrier.
Ferrari's the seven-time champion also had a spin, at the final moments of the practice, turning around through the quick descending Mergulho turn before the final corner on to the pit straight.
The seven-time champion finished practice in 19th, just behind team-mate Charles Leclerc.
The McLaren drivers were far ahead of the remaining drivers, with the German's car third fastest, over half a second slower than the Australian's time.
The Aston Martin of the Spanish driver was in fourth, with the Sauber of Gabriel Bortoleto in front of Mercedes' George Russell and the Alpine of Pierre Gasly and Williams' Carlos Sainz.
