Lando Norris Edges Out Oscar Piastri in Sao Paulo Practice Session
The British driver has beaten Oscar Piastri at each of the previous five race weekends.
Lando Norris narrowly beat fellow driver and title rival the Australian for the top spot in the closing stages of the practice session at the Brazilian Grand Prix.
Norris, who grabbed the points lead from his teammate by just one point after taking the win in the Mexican Grand Prix recently, outpaced the Melbourne-born driver by a tiny margin of 0.023secs.
Until that point, Piastri had been the quickest of the McLaren pair during the running before sprint qualifying scheduled for 18:30 GMT.
The Red Bull star, the sole remaining contender in the championship fight, sitting 36 points behind behind Norris, ended up in 17th place as his Red Bull team followed a unique setup.
Verstappen's team-mate Yuki Tsunoda was the sole competitor to crash, if briefly, when he lost control at corner four during the early running.
Tsunoda spun out over the exit kerbs before sliding over the gravel trap, and was blessed to avoid just a minor contact of the wall.
Ferrari's Lewis Hamilton also spun, at the conclusion of the practice, turning around through the quick descending Mergulho turn approaching the final corner on to the pit straight.
The seven-time champion wrapped up in P19, just behind team-mate Charles Leclerc.
Norris and Piastri were far ahead of the other competitors, with the German's Sauber P3, 0.619secs slower than Piastri's best.
Aston Martin's the Spanish driver was fourth fastest, with Sauber's Gabriel Bortoleto ahead of the Mercedes of Russell and Alpine's Gasly and Williams' Sainz.
