Lando Norris Leads Oscar Piastri in Sao Paulo Practice Session
Lando Norris has beaten his teammate at each of the last five race weekends.
Lando Norris just pipped fellow driver and title rival the Australian for the quickest lap in the dying seconds of the practice session at the Brazilian Grand Prix.
Norris, who took the points lead from his teammate by a single point after his victory in Mexico City recently, outpaced the Australian by a tiny margin of 0.023secs.
Earlier in the session, Oscar Piastri had been the quickest of the McLaren pair during the running before sprint qualifying set to begin at the evening session.
The Red Bull star, the sole remaining contender in the points battle, trailing 36 points behind behind Norris, ended up in 17th position as his Red Bull team opted for a alternative strategy.
Verstappen's team-mate the Japanese driver was the only driver to crash, albeit lightly, when he rotated at the fourth corner early in the session.
The Japanese lost control over the track edges before sliding over the escape zone, and was blessed to escape with just a minor contact of the wall.
The Ferrari of the seven-time champion also spun, at the final moments of the practice, spinning around through the quick descending Mergulho corner before the final corner on to the main straight.
The veteran wrapped up in 19th place, one place behind team-mate the Monegasque driver.
The McLaren pair were significantly quicker of the rest of the field, with Nico Hulkenberg's car in third, over half a second slower than Piastri's pace.
Aston Martin's Fernando Alonso was fourth quickest, with the Sauber of Bortoleto ahead of the Mercedes of Russell and Alpine's Pierre Gasly and the Williams of Sainz.
