Norris Tops Piastri in Sao Paulo Practice
Lando Norris has outperformed his teammate at all of the last five grands prix.
Lando Norris edged out fellow driver and title rival Oscar Piastri for the fastest time in the closing stages of the practice session at the Brazilian Grand Prix.
Norris, who seized the points lead from Piastri by one point after winning in Mexico City a fortnight back, beat the Australian by a tiny margin of 0.023secs.
Until that point, Piastri had been the quickest of the McLaren pair throughout the hour before the sprint shootout set to begin at 18:30 GMT.
The Red Bull star, the sole remaining contender in the points battle, trailing with a 36-point deficit behind Norris, ended up in P17 as his Red Bull team followed a unique setup.
Verstappen's team-mate Yuki Tsunoda was the sole competitor to crash, albeit lightly, when he spun at Turn Four soon after starting.
The Japanese spun out over the exit kerbs before rotating through the run-off area, and was lucky to get away with just a minor contact of the barrier.
The Ferrari of the seven-time champion also had a spin, at the final moments of the practice, rotating twice through the high-speed Mergulho turn leading to the last turn on to the start-finish straight.
The seven-time champion ended the session in 19th, just behind team-mate the Monegasque driver.
The McLaren pair were well clear of the other competitors, with Nico Hulkenberg's car third fastest, over half a second behind the Australian's time.
The Aston Martin of Fernando Alonso was in fourth, with the Sauber of Gabriel Bortoleto ahead of Mercedes' Russell and the Alpine of Gasly and Williams' Carlos Sainz.
