Lando Norris Tops Oscar Piastri in Brazilian Practice Session
The British driver has outscored his teammate at all of the past five grands prix.
Lando Norris edged out team-mate and championship contender the Australian for the top spot in the final moments of practice at the Brazilian Grand Prix.
Norris, who grabbed the points lead from his teammate by a single point after winning in Mexico City two weeks ago, beat the Australian by a tiny margin of 0.023secs.
Until that point, Oscar Piastri had been the fastest McLaren driver during the running before sprint qualifying scheduled for the evening session.
The Red Bull star, the only other driver in the points battle, sitting 36 points Norris, was classified in P17 as his team ran a different programme.
Verstappen's team-mate Yuki Tsunoda was the sole competitor to have an incident, though minor, when he rotated at the fourth corner soon after starting.
The Japanese lost control over the exit kerbs before spinning across the run-off area, and was blessed to get away with just a minor contact of the barrier.
The Ferrari of the seven-time champion also lost it, at the conclusion of the session, rotating twice through the fast downhill Mergulho turn approaching the last turn on to the pit straight.
The seven-time champion ended the session in P19, trailing team-mate the Monegasque driver.
Norris and Piastri were well clear of the rest of the field, with the German's car P3, 0.619secs off Piastri's pace.
The Aston Martin of Fernando Alonso was in fourth, with the Sauber of Bortoleto ahead of the Mercedes of George Russell and the Alpine of Gasly and the Williams of Carlos Sainz.
