Norris Tops Oscar Piastri in Sao Paulo Practice
The British driver has outscored his teammate at each of the past five race weekends.
Lando Norris edged out fellow driver and title rival the Australian for the quickest lap in the final moments of the practice session at the Sao Paulo Grand Prix.
The British racer, who seized the title advantage from Piastri by a single point after his victory in the Mexican Grand Prix a fortnight back, topped the Melbourne-born driver by a mere 0.023s.
Earlier in the session, Piastri had been the quickest of the McLaren pair during the running before sprint qualifying due at 18:30 GMT.
The Red Bull star, the other racer in the championship fight, sitting with a 36-point deficit behind Norris, ended up in P17 as his team followed a different programme.
Verstappen's team-mate Yuki Tsunoda was the sole competitor to have an incident, albeit lightly, when he spun at Turn Four during the early running.
The Japanese slid over the track edges before sliding over the run-off area, and was blessed to escape with just a slight brush of the barrier.
The Ferrari of Lewis Hamilton also lost it, at the final moments of the practice, turning around through the quick descending Mergulho turn approaching the last turn on to the pit straight.
Hamilton finished practice in 19th, one place behind teammate Charles Leclerc.
The McLaren drivers were far ahead of the rest of the field, with Nico Hulkenberg's Sauber P3, over half a second off Piastri's best.
Aston Martin's the Spanish driver was fourth fastest, with the Sauber of Bortoleto fifth from Mercedes' George Russell and Alpine's Pierre Gasly and the Williams of Sainz.
