Norris Leads Oscar Piastri in Sao Paulo Practice
Lando Norris has outscored his teammate at all of the previous five race weekends.
Lando Norris edged out team-mate and title rival the Australian for the fastest time in the dying seconds of practice at the Brazilian Grand Prix.
The British racer, who grabbed the title advantage from his teammate by a single point after winning in Mexico City a fortnight back, outpaced the Australian by a mere 0.023s.
Until that point, Piastri had been the fastest McLaren driver for most of the session before sprint qualifying due at the evening session.
The Red Bull star, the sole remaining contender in realistic title contention, sitting 36 points behind behind Norris, was classified in 17th place as his team followed a alternative strategy.
Verstappen's team-mate Yuki Tsunoda was the sole competitor to have an incident, if briefly, when he rotated at the fourth corner during the early running.
Tsunoda spun out over the curbs on exit before rotating through the gravel trap, and was blessed to avoid just a slight brush of the barrier.
The Ferrari of Lewis Hamilton also had a spin, at the conclusion of the practice, turning around through the high-speed Mergulho corner before the last turn on to the main straight.
The veteran ended the session in 19th, just behind team-mate Charles Leclerc.
The McLaren pair were significantly quicker of the rest of the field, with Nico Hulkenberg's car third fastest, 0.619 seconds off the Australian's time.
Aston Martin's Fernando Alonso was in fourth, with the Sauber of Gabriel Bortoleto ahead of Mercedes' Russell and the Alpine of Pierre Gasly and Williams' Sainz.
