Lando Norris Edges Out Piastri in Sao Paulo Practice Session
Lando Norris has outperformed his teammate at all of the previous five grands prix.
The McLaren driver narrowly beat fellow driver and title rival Oscar Piastri for the quickest lap in the final moments of practice at the Brazilian Grand Prix.
Norris, who took the title advantage from Piastri by just one point after taking the win in Mexico City recently, beat the Australian by a mere 0.023s.
Until that point, Piastri had been the quickest of the McLaren pair throughout the hour before sprint qualifying set to begin at 6:30 PM GMT.
The Red Bull star, the sole remaining contender in realistic title contention, lying 36 points behind Norris, finished in P17 as his Red Bull team opted for a different programme.
Verstappen's team-mate Yuki Tsunoda was the only driver to have an incident, if briefly, when he lost control at corner four early in the session.
Tsunoda spun out over the track edges before spinning across the gravel trap, and was lucky to get away with just a light touch of the fence.
The Ferrari of the seven-time champion also had a spin, at the very end of the practice, spinning around through the fast downhill corner approaching the last turn on to the main straight.
The veteran finished practice in 19th place, trailing team-mate the Monegasque driver.
The McLaren pair were far ahead of the other competitors, with the German's Sauber in third, over half a second behind Piastri's best.
The Aston Martin of the Spanish driver was fourth fastest, with the Sauber of Gabriel Bortoleto fifth from Mercedes' Russell and Alpine's Pierre Gasly and the Williams of Carlos Sainz.