Norris Tops Oscar Piastri in Sao Paulo Practice
The British driver has outscored Oscar Piastri at each of the past five grands prix.
Lando Norris narrowly beat fellow driver and championship contender the Australian for the fastest time in the dying seconds of practice at the Sao Paulo Grand Prix.
The British racer, who grabbed the championship lead from his teammate by one point after taking the win in Mexico City a fortnight back, topped the Australian by 0.023 seconds.
Before then, Oscar Piastri had been the quickest of the McLaren pair throughout the hour before sprint qualifying due at 18:30 GMT.
The Red Bull star, the sole remaining contender in realistic title contention, lying 36 points behind behind Norris, finished in P17 as his Red Bull team opted for a different programme.
Verstappen's team-mate Yuki Tsunoda was the only driver to crash, albeit lightly, when he spun at Turn Four early in the session.
Tsunoda lost control over the curbs on exit before rotating through the run-off area, and was blessed to avoid just a light touch of the barrier.
Ferrari's the seven-time champion also spun, at the very end of the practice, turning around through the fast downhill Mergulho corner leading to the last turn on to the main straight.
The seven-time champion ended the session in 19th place, just behind team-mate the Monegasque driver.
The McLaren pair were significantly quicker of the other competitors, with the German's Sauber in third, over half a second off Piastri's pace.
The Aston Martin of Fernando Alonso was fourth quickest, with the Sauber of Gabriel Bortoleto in front of Mercedes' George Russell and the Alpine of Gasly and the Williams of Carlos Sainz.
