Norris Tops Oscar Piastri in Sao Paulo Practice
The British driver has outperformed his teammate at all of the last five race weekends.
Lando Norris edged out fellow driver and championship contender the Australian for the fastest time in the dying seconds of the practice session at the Sao Paulo Grand Prix.
Norris, who seized the championship lead from Piastri by a single point after taking the win in Mexico City recently, outpaced the Melbourne-born driver by 0.023 seconds.
Before then, Oscar Piastri had been the quickest of the McLaren pair for most of the session before sprint qualifying scheduled for 18:30 GMT.
The Red Bull star, the only other driver in the championship fight, trailing 36 points behind Norris, finished in 17th place as his Red Bull team followed a unique setup.
Verstappen's team-mate the Japanese driver was the only driver to crash, though minor, when he rotated at corner four soon after starting.
The Japanese spun out over the curbs on exit before spinning across the run-off area, and was lucky to avoid just a light touch of the fence.
The Ferrari of the seven-time champion also had a spin, at the final moments of the practice, rotating twice through the high-speed Mergulho turn leading to the last turn on to the start-finish straight.
The seven-time champion finished practice in 19th, just behind team-mate the Monegasque driver.
The McLaren drivers were well clear of the remaining drivers, with Nico Hulkenberg's Sauber P3, 0.619 seconds behind Piastri's pace.
Aston Martin's the Spanish driver was fourth quickest, with the Sauber of Gabriel Bortoleto ahead of the Mercedes of Russell and Alpine's Gasly and Williams' Sainz.
