Norris Tops Piastri in Sao Paulo Practice Session
The British driver has beaten Oscar Piastri at each of the previous five grands prix.
Lando Norris narrowly beat team-mate and championship contender the Australian for the quickest lap in the dying seconds of practice at the Brazilian Grand Prix.
Norris, who took the points lead from his teammate by a single point after his victory in the Mexican Grand Prix recently, beat the Melbourne-born driver by a tiny margin of 0.023secs.
Until that point, Piastri had been the leading McLaren for most of the session before sprint qualifying scheduled for the evening session.
The Red Bull star, the sole remaining contender in the points battle, lying with a 36-point deficit behind Norris, ended up in P17 as his Red Bull team opted for a alternative strategy.
Verstappen's team-mate the Japanese driver was the sole competitor to have an incident, if briefly, when he lost control at corner four soon after starting.
The Japanese lost control over the exit kerbs before sliding over the run-off area, and was fortunate to get away with just a light touch of the barrier.
The Ferrari of the seven-time champion also had a spin, at the very end of the session, turning around through the fast downhill corner leading to the last turn on to the start-finish straight.
The seven-time champion finished practice in P19, just behind teammate Charles Leclerc.
The McLaren pair were well clear of the remaining drivers, with the German's Sauber P3, over half a second off the Australian's time.
Aston Martin's the Spanish driver was in fourth, with the Sauber of Bortoleto fifth from Mercedes' Russell and the Alpine of Pierre Gasly and the Williams of Sainz.
