Lando Norris Edges Out Piastri in Sao Paulo Practice Session
The British driver has beaten Oscar Piastri at each of the last five race weekends.
The McLaren driver just pipped fellow driver and championship contender Oscar Piastri for the top spot in the closing stages of the practice session at the Brazilian Grand Prix.
The British racer, who took the title advantage from his teammate by just one point after taking the win in Mexico City a fortnight back, outpaced the Melbourne-born driver by a tiny margin of 0.023secs.
Earlier in the session, Oscar Piastri had been the quickest of the McLaren pair for most of the session before the sprint shootout due at 6:30 PM GMT.
The Red Bull star, the other racer in the points battle, lying 36 points Norris, finished in P17 as his Red Bull team ran a alternative strategy.
Verstappen's team-mate Yuki Tsunoda was the only driver to go off, albeit lightly, when he rotated at Turn Four during the early running.
The Japanese lost control over the curbs on exit before spinning across the escape zone, and was fortunate to get away with just a slight brush of the fence.
Ferrari's Lewis Hamilton also lost it, at the conclusion of the practice, turning around through the high-speed Mergulho corner approaching the final bend on to the main straight.
The seven-time champion ended the session in 19th, just behind teammate the Monegasque driver.
Norris and Piastri were well clear of the rest of the field, with the German's Sauber in third, 0.619secs slower than the Australian's time.
Aston Martin's Fernando Alonso was fourth quickest, with Sauber's Gabriel Bortoleto ahead of Mercedes' George Russell and the Alpine of Gasly and Williams' Carlos Sainz.
