The British driver has beaten Oscar Piastri at each of the last five grands prix.
Lando Norris edged out fellow driver and championship contender the Australian for the fastest time in the closing stages of practice at the Sao Paulo Grand Prix.
Norris, who seized the championship lead from his teammate by just one point after winning in the Mexican Grand Prix a fortnight back, topped the Australian by 0.023 seconds.
Before then, Piastri had been the leading McLaren throughout the hour before sprint qualifying scheduled for 6:30 PM GMT.
The Red Bull star, the only other driver in the points battle, sitting 36 points behind behind Norris, was classified in P17 as his team opted for a different programme.
His teammate the Japanese driver was the sole competitor to have an incident, albeit lightly, when he rotated at corner four early in the session.
Tsunoda slid over the track edges before rotating through the run-off area, and was fortunate to avoid just a light touch of the barrier.
The Ferrari of Lewis Hamilton also had a spin, at the very end of the practice, turning around through the fast downhill Mergulho corner leading to the final bend on to the start-finish straight.
The seven-time champion wrapped up in P19, trailing team-mate Charles Leclerc.
Norris and Piastri were well clear of the rest of the field, with Nico Hulkenberg's car P3, over half a second behind the Australian's time.
Aston Martin's the Spanish driver was fourth quickest, with Sauber's Bortoleto ahead of the Mercedes of Russell and Alpine's Gasly and Williams' Carlos Sainz.
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