Lando Norris Edges Out Oscar Piastri in Brazilian Practice Session
The British driver has outperformed Oscar Piastri at all of the past five race weekends.
Lando Norris just pipped fellow driver and championship contender the Australian for the quickest lap in the dying seconds of the practice session at the Brazilian Grand Prix.
The British racer, who seized the points lead from his teammate by a single point after winning in the Mexican Grand Prix two weeks ago, outpaced the Australian by a mere 0.023s.
Before then, Oscar Piastri had been the fastest McLaren driver throughout the hour before the sprint shootout due at 18:30 GMT.
The Red Bull star, the other racer in realistic title contention, sitting 36 points Norris, finished in P17 as his team opted for a unique setup.
Verstappen's team-mate Yuki Tsunoda was the only driver to crash, albeit lightly, when he rotated at corner four during the early running.
Tsunoda slid over the exit kerbs before sliding over the escape zone, and was blessed to escape with just a slight brush of the wall.
The Ferrari of the seven-time champion also had a spin, at the very end of the session, spinning around through the fast downhill Mergulho corner approaching the final bend on to the main straight.
The seven-time champion wrapped up in 19th place, one place behind team-mate the Monegasque driver.
The McLaren pair were significantly quicker of the remaining drivers, with Nico Hulkenberg's Sauber P3, over half a second behind Piastri's pace.
The Aston Martin of the Spanish driver was fourth quickest, with the Sauber of Gabriel Bortoleto fifth from Mercedes' George Russell and Alpine's Gasly and the Williams of Sainz.
