Lando Norris Tops Piastri in Brazilian Practice Session
The British driver has beaten Oscar Piastri at all of the previous five grands prix.
Lando Norris edged out fellow driver and title rival Oscar Piastri for the quickest lap in the dying seconds of the practice session at the Brazilian Grand Prix.
The British racer, who seized the title advantage from Piastri by a single point after winning in Mexico City recently, beat the Australian by a tiny margin of 0.023secs.
Before then, Oscar Piastri had been the leading McLaren for most of the session before sprint qualifying set to begin at 18:30 GMT.
The Red Bull star, the sole remaining contender in the championship fight, sitting 36 points behind behind Norris, finished in 17th place as his team opted for a unique setup.
Verstappen's team-mate the Japanese driver was the only driver to crash, if briefly, when he spun at the fourth corner during the early running.
Tsunoda slid over the curbs on exit before sliding over the gravel trap, and was fortunate to avoid just a minor contact of the fence.
The Ferrari of Lewis Hamilton also spun, at the conclusion of the session, turning around through the fast downhill Mergulho turn leading to the final corner on to the pit straight.
Hamilton ended the session in 19th place, trailing team-mate Charles Leclerc.
Norris and Piastri were well clear of the rest of the field, with the German's car third fastest, 0.619 seconds off the Australian's time.
The Aston Martin of the Spanish driver was in fourth, with the Sauber of Bortoleto fifth from Mercedes' Russell and Alpine's Pierre Gasly and Williams' Sainz.
