Lando Norris Leads Piastri in Brazilian Practice
The British driver has outscored his teammate at each of the last five grands prix.
Lando Norris just pipped team-mate and championship contender the Australian for the top spot in the dying seconds of the practice session at the Sao Paulo Grand Prix.
The British racer, who grabbed the points lead from his teammate by just one point after winning in the Mexican Grand Prix two weeks ago, beat the Australian by a mere 0.023s.
Until that point, Oscar Piastri had been the fastest McLaren driver during the running before sprint qualifying due at the evening session.
The Red Bull star, the only other driver in the points battle, trailing with a 36-point deficit behind Norris, ended up in P17 as his team opted for a different programme.
Verstappen's team-mate the Japanese driver was the sole competitor to crash, though minor, when he rotated at Turn Four early in the session.
Tsunoda spun out over the track edges before sliding over the run-off area, and was blessed to get away with just a slight brush of the barrier.
The Ferrari of the seven-time champion also had a spin, at the conclusion of the session, turning around through the fast downhill Mergulho corner leading to the final corner on to the pit straight.
Hamilton finished practice in 19th place, just behind team-mate the Monegasque driver.
The McLaren pair were far ahead of the rest of the field, with Nico Hulkenberg's car P3, 0.619 seconds off the Australian's time.
The Aston Martin of Fernando Alonso was fourth quickest, with the Sauber of Gabriel Bortoleto fifth from the Mercedes of Russell and the Alpine of Pierre Gasly and Williams' Sainz.
