Lando Norris Leads Oscar Piastri in Sao Paulo Practice
Lando Norris has outscored Oscar Piastri at each of the past five race weekends.
The McLaren driver just pipped fellow driver and championship contender the Australian for the top spot in the final moments of practice at the Sao Paulo Grand Prix.
The British racer, who grabbed the title advantage from Piastri by one point after winning in the Mexican Grand Prix recently, topped the Australian by a mere 0.023s.
Until that point, Piastri had been the fastest McLaren driver during the running before sprint qualifying set to begin at 6:30 PM GMT.
The Red Bull star, the only other driver in realistic title contention, lying with a 36-point deficit behind Norris, ended up in P17 as his Red Bull team ran a alternative strategy.
Verstappen's team-mate the Japanese driver was the sole competitor to go off, though minor, when he lost control at Turn Four soon after starting.
Tsunoda lost control over the track edges before rotating through the run-off area, and was lucky to get away with just a light touch of the barrier.
The Ferrari of the seven-time champion also had a spin, at the final moments of the session, rotating twice through the quick descending corner approaching the last turn on to the start-finish straight.
The seven-time champion ended the session in 19th place, trailing team-mate Charles Leclerc.
The McLaren drivers were well clear of the other competitors, with the German's Sauber in third, 0.619secs off Piastri's pace.
The Aston Martin of the Spanish driver was fourth quickest, with the Sauber of Bortoleto fifth from the Mercedes of Russell and the Alpine of Gasly and the Williams of Carlos Sainz.