Lando Norris Leads Piastri in Sao Paulo Practice
Lando Norris has outperformed his teammate at each of the past five race weekends.
The McLaren driver edged out team-mate and championship contender Oscar Piastri for the quickest lap in the dying seconds of the practice session at the Brazilian Grand Prix.
Norris, who grabbed the championship lead from his teammate by just one point after winning in Mexico City two weeks ago, topped the Melbourne-born driver by a tiny margin of 0.023secs.
Before then, Oscar Piastri had been the fastest McLaren driver during the running before sprint qualifying due at 6:30 PM GMT.
The Red Bull star, the only other driver in the points battle, trailing with a 36-point deficit behind Norris, finished in P17 as his Red Bull team opted for a unique setup.
Verstappen's team-mate Yuki Tsunoda was the sole competitor to crash, albeit lightly, when he spun at Turn Four during the early running.
Tsunoda slid over the exit kerbs before rotating through the gravel trap, and was fortunate to get away with just a light touch of the barrier.
The Ferrari of Lewis Hamilton also had a spin, at the final moments of the session, turning around through the fast downhill Mergulho corner leading to the final bend on to the start-finish straight.
The seven-time champion ended the session in 19th place, trailing teammate Charles Leclerc.
The McLaren pair were far ahead of the rest of the field, with Nico Hulkenberg's Sauber in third, 0.619secs behind Piastri's pace.
Aston Martin's Fernando Alonso was fourth fastest, with the Sauber of Bortoleto in front of the Mercedes of Russell and Alpine's Pierre Gasly and Williams' Carlos Sainz.
