Norris Leads Piastri in Brazilian Practice Session
Lando Norris has outscored Oscar Piastri at all of the last five grands prix.
The McLaren driver just pipped team-mate and championship contender Oscar Piastri for the top spot in the final moments of the practice session at the Sao Paulo Grand Prix.
The British racer, who took the championship lead from his teammate by just one point after winning in the Mexican Grand Prix recently, beat the Australian by a mere 0.023s.
Earlier in the session, Oscar Piastri had been the quickest of the McLaren pair for most of the session before the sprint shootout scheduled for the evening session.
The Red Bull star, the other racer in the championship fight, sitting 36 points behind Norris, ended up in 17th place as his Red Bull team opted for a different programme.
Verstappen's team-mate Yuki Tsunoda was the only driver to go off, albeit lightly, when he rotated at Turn Four soon after starting.
Tsunoda lost control over the exit kerbs before sliding over the escape zone, and was fortunate to get away with just a slight brush of the wall.
The Ferrari of the seven-time champion also had a spin, at the very end of the session, rotating twice through the fast downhill corner leading to the final bend on to the main straight.
The seven-time champion finished practice in P19, trailing team-mate the Monegasque driver.
Norris and Piastri were far ahead of the rest of the field, with the German's car in third, over half a second behind Piastri's best.
The Aston Martin of Fernando Alonso was fourth fastest, with the Sauber of Gabriel Bortoleto ahead of the Mercedes of Russell and Alpine's Gasly and Williams' Sainz.