Norris Leads Piastri in Sao Paulo Practice
The British driver has beaten Oscar Piastri at each of the previous five race weekends.
The McLaren driver edged out fellow driver and championship contender the Australian for the top spot in the dying seconds of practice at the Sao Paulo Grand Prix.
Norris, who seized the championship lead from Piastri by just one point after taking the win in the Mexican Grand Prix recently, beat the Melbourne-born driver by a tiny margin of 0.023secs.
Until that point, Oscar Piastri had been the fastest McLaren driver throughout the hour before the sprint shootout set to begin at the evening session.
The Red Bull star, the sole remaining contender in realistic title contention, lying with a 36-point deficit Norris, finished in 17th position as his Red Bull team ran a alternative strategy.
His teammate the Japanese driver was the only driver to go off, albeit lightly, when he rotated at Turn Four soon after starting.
Tsunoda lost control over the exit kerbs before rotating through the gravel trap, and was lucky to avoid just a light touch of the fence.
Ferrari's the seven-time champion also lost it, at the final moments of the practice, rotating twice through the high-speed Mergulho corner before the final bend on to the main straight.
The veteran wrapped up in 19th, trailing teammate the Monegasque driver.
Norris and Piastri were well clear of the rest of the field, with the German's Sauber third fastest, 0.619 seconds off the Australian's time.
The Aston Martin of the Spanish driver was fourth quickest, with Sauber's Bortoleto ahead of the Mercedes of George Russell and the Alpine of Gasly and Williams' Carlos Sainz.
