Lando Norris Leads Piastri in Sao Paulo Practice Session
The British driver has beaten Oscar Piastri at each of the past five grands prix.
Lando Norris just pipped team-mate and championship contender Oscar Piastri for the fastest time in the closing stages of practice at the Brazilian Grand Prix.
The British racer, who took the championship lead from Piastri by one point after taking the win in Mexico City a fortnight back, beat the Melbourne-born driver 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 due at 6:30 PM GMT.
The Red Bull star, the sole remaining contender in the championship fight, trailing 36 points Norris, was classified in 17th position as his Red Bull team followed a alternative strategy.
Verstappen's team-mate Yuki Tsunoda was the only driver to have an incident, though minor, when he rotated at the fourth corner soon after starting.
Tsunoda spun out over the track edges before rotating through the escape zone, and was blessed to escape with just a minor contact of the wall.
The Ferrari of the seven-time champion also had a spin, at the final moments of the practice, spinning around through the high-speed Mergulho corner leading to the final corner on to the pit straight.
The veteran wrapped up in 19th place, just behind team-mate Charles Leclerc.
The McLaren pair were significantly quicker of the remaining drivers, with Nico Hulkenberg's Sauber third fastest, 0.619secs behind Piastri's pace.
Aston Martin's Fernando Alonso was in fourth, with the Sauber of Bortoleto ahead of the Mercedes of George Russell and Alpine's Gasly and Williams' Sainz.
