Lando Norris Tops Oscar Piastri in Brazilian Practice
The British driver has outperformed his teammate at each of the last five grands prix.
The McLaren driver narrowly beat team-mate and title rival Oscar Piastri for the quickest lap in the dying seconds of practice at the Sao Paulo Grand Prix.
The British racer, who took the title advantage from his teammate by a single point after taking the win in the Mexican Grand Prix two weeks ago, beat the Australian by a mere 0.023s.
Before then, Oscar Piastri had been the quickest of the McLaren pair throughout the hour before the sprint shootout scheduled for the evening session.
The Red Bull star, the only other driver in the points battle, trailing 36 points behind Norris, finished in P17 as his Red Bull team opted for a alternative strategy.
Verstappen's team-mate the Japanese driver was the sole competitor to go off, though minor, when he spun at Turn Four soon after starting.
The Japanese lost control over the track edges before sliding over the escape zone, and was blessed to avoid 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, rotating twice through the fast downhill corner before the final corner on to the pit straight.
The seven-time champion wrapped up in 19th place, just behind team-mate the Monegasque driver.
Norris and Piastri were far ahead of the rest of the field, with the German's car P3, over half a second off Piastri's best.
Aston Martin's the Spanish driver was in fourth, with Sauber's Gabriel Bortoleto fifth from Mercedes' Russell and Alpine's Pierre Gasly and the Williams of Sainz.
