Norris Edges Out Piastri in Sao Paulo Practice Session
The British driver has beaten Oscar Piastri at all of the last five race weekends.
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.
The British racer, who grabbed the title advantage from Piastri by just one point after his victory in the Mexican Grand Prix two weeks ago, outpaced the Australian by a mere 0.023s.
Until that point, Piastri had been the fastest McLaren driver during the running before sprint qualifying scheduled for 6:30 PM GMT.
The Red Bull star, the other racer in realistic title contention, sitting with a 36-point deficit Norris, was classified in 17th place as his team followed a different programme.
Verstappen's team-mate the Japanese driver was the only driver to have an incident, if briefly, when he spun at Turn Four early in the session.
The Japanese slid over the exit kerbs before spinning across the run-off area, and was fortunate to escape with just a light touch of the barrier.
The Ferrari of the seven-time champion also spun, at the conclusion of the practice, rotating twice through the quick descending Mergulho corner before the last turn on to the main straight.
The seven-time champion ended the session in 19th, one place behind team-mate the Monegasque driver.
Norris and Piastri were far ahead of the other competitors, with the German's Sauber third fastest, 0.619secs behind the Australian's time.
The Aston Martin of the Spanish driver was in fourth, with the Sauber of Gabriel Bortoleto fifth from the Mercedes of George Russell and Alpine's Pierre Gasly and Williams' Carlos Sainz.
