Norris Leads Oscar Piastri in Sao Paulo Practice Session
Lando Norris has outperformed his teammate at all of the last five grands prix.
Lando Norris narrowly beat fellow driver and championship contender the Australian for the quickest lap in the final moments of practice at the Brazilian Grand Prix.
The British racer, who took the points lead from his teammate by one point after taking the win in Mexico City two weeks ago, outpaced the Melbourne-born driver by 0.023 seconds.
Before then, Oscar Piastri had been the leading McLaren for most of the session before the sprint shootout set to begin at the evening session.
The Red Bull star, the sole remaining contender in the points battle, sitting 36 points behind behind Norris, was classified in 17th position as his Red Bull team followed a alternative strategy.
Verstappen's team-mate the Japanese driver was the only driver to crash, though minor, when he lost control at the fourth corner early in the session.
Tsunoda spun out over the curbs on exit before spinning across the escape zone, and was blessed to avoid just a slight brush of the barrier.
Ferrari's Lewis Hamilton also had a spin, at the final moments of the session, spinning around through the high-speed Mergulho corner leading to the final bend on to the pit straight.
Hamilton ended the session in P19, just behind teammate Charles Leclerc.
The McLaren pair were far ahead of the remaining drivers, with Nico Hulkenberg's car in third, 0.619secs slower than the Australian's time.
The Aston Martin of the Spanish driver was fourth quickest, with the Sauber of Gabriel Bortoleto ahead of the Mercedes of Russell and the Alpine of Pierre Gasly and Williams' Sainz.