Lando Norris Leads Oscar Piastri in Sao Paulo Practice Session
The British driver has outscored Oscar Piastri at each of the previous five grands prix.
The McLaren driver edged out team-mate and title rival Oscar Piastri for the quickest lap in the final moments of practice at the Brazilian Grand Prix.
Norris, who took the championship lead from Piastri by a single point after his victory in the Mexican Grand Prix a fortnight back, beat the Melbourne-born driver by 0.023 seconds.
Earlier in the session, Oscar Piastri had been the leading McLaren during the running before the sprint shootout set to begin at the evening session.
The Red Bull star, the only other driver in realistic title contention, sitting 36 points behind Norris, finished in 17th place as his team ran a unique setup.
Verstappen's team-mate Yuki Tsunoda was the only driver to go off, if briefly, when he lost control at the fourth corner early in the session.
The Japanese spun out over the exit kerbs before spinning across the escape zone, and was blessed to avoid just a minor contact of the barrier.
Ferrari's the seven-time champion also had a spin, at the conclusion of the practice, spinning around through the quick descending Mergulho corner approaching the final corner on to the start-finish straight.
The seven-time champion ended the session in P19, just behind team-mate the Monegasque driver.
Norris and Piastri were significantly quicker of the rest of the field, with the German's Sauber third fastest, over half a second slower than the Australian's time.
The Aston Martin of Fernando Alonso was fourth quickest, with the Sauber of Bortoleto ahead of the Mercedes of Russell and Alpine's Gasly and the Williams of Carlos Sainz.
