Lando Norris Tops Piastri in Brazilian Practice Session
The British driver has outscored Oscar Piastri at all of the previous five race weekends.
The McLaren driver edged out team-mate and title rival Oscar Piastri for the top spot in the dying seconds of the practice session at the Sao Paulo Grand Prix.
The British racer, who grabbed the title advantage from Piastri by a single point after his victory in the Mexican Grand Prix a fortnight back, beat 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 throughout the hour before sprint qualifying set to begin at the evening session.
The Red Bull star, the sole remaining contender in realistic title contention, lying 36 points behind Norris, ended up in P17 as his team ran a alternative strategy.
Verstappen's team-mate Yuki Tsunoda was the only driver to go off, albeit lightly, when he spun at Turn Four early in the session.
The Japanese spun out over the track edges before sliding over the run-off area, and was fortunate to get away with just a light touch of the barrier.
Ferrari's Lewis Hamilton also lost it, at the conclusion of the session, spinning around through the high-speed corner leading to the last turn on to the main straight.
The seven-time champion ended the session in 19th, trailing teammate Charles Leclerc.
The McLaren drivers were well clear of the other competitors, with Nico Hulkenberg's Sauber P3, 0.619secs off Piastri's best.
The Aston Martin of Fernando Alonso was fourth quickest, with Sauber's Bortoleto fifth from Mercedes' Russell and the Alpine of Pierre Gasly and Williams' Carlos Sainz.
