Norris Leads Piastri in Sao Paulo Practice Session
The British driver has outscored Oscar Piastri at each of the previous five grands prix.
Lando Norris just pipped team-mate and championship contender Oscar Piastri for the quickest lap in the final moments of the practice session at the Sao Paulo Grand Prix.
Norris, who grabbed the championship lead from his teammate by just one point after taking the win in the Mexican Grand Prix recently, beat the Melbourne-born driver by a mere 0.023s.
Until that point, Piastri had been the quickest of the McLaren pair for most of the session before the sprint shootout set to begin at 18:30 GMT.
The Red Bull star, the sole remaining contender in the points battle, trailing 36 points Norris, finished in 17th place as his Red Bull team ran a unique setup.
Verstappen's team-mate Yuki Tsunoda was the sole competitor to crash, if briefly, when he spun at corner four during the early running.
Tsunoda slid over the curbs on exit before spinning across the gravel trap, and was lucky to avoid just a minor contact of the fence.
The Ferrari of the seven-time champion also had a spin, at the conclusion of the practice, turning around through the fast downhill Mergulho turn approaching the last turn on to the pit straight.
The veteran wrapped up in 19th place, one place behind teammate the Monegasque driver.
The McLaren pair were far ahead of the other competitors, with the German's Sauber third fastest, 0.619 seconds off Piastri's best.
Aston Martin's the Spanish driver was fourth quickest, with Sauber's Gabriel Bortoleto ahead of the Mercedes of Russell and the Alpine of Pierre Gasly and the Williams of Carlos Sainz.
