Norris Edges Out Piastri in Sao Paulo Practice Session
The British driver has outperformed his teammate at each of the past five race weekends.
Lando Norris edged out team-mate and title rival Oscar Piastri for the quickest lap in the closing stages of practice at the Brazilian Grand Prix.
The British racer, who grabbed the points lead from Piastri by one point after taking the win in Mexico City recently, outpaced the Melbourne-born driver by 0.023 seconds.
Earlier in the session, Piastri had been the fastest McLaren driver during the running before sprint qualifying set to begin at 6:30 PM GMT.
The Red Bull star, the only other driver in realistic title contention, lying 36 points behind Norris, finished in 17th place as his Red Bull team followed a unique setup.
Verstappen's team-mate Yuki Tsunoda was the only driver to crash, though minor, when he lost control at corner four early in the session.
Tsunoda spun out over the exit kerbs before sliding over the gravel trap, and was blessed to escape with just a slight brush of the fence.
The Ferrari of Lewis Hamilton also had a spin, at the final moments of the session, rotating twice through the quick descending corner leading to the final bend on to the start-finish straight.
The seven-time champion finished practice in 19th place, just behind teammate Charles Leclerc.
The McLaren pair were significantly quicker of the rest of the field, with Nico Hulkenberg's car P3, 0.619 seconds behind the Australian's time.
Aston Martin's the Spanish driver was fourth quickest, with the Sauber of Bortoleto in front of Mercedes' Russell and Alpine's Pierre Gasly and the Williams of Carlos Sainz.
