Lando Norris Tops Piastri in Brazilian Practice Session
The British driver has beaten his teammate at all of the last five race weekends.
The McLaren driver just pipped team-mate and championship contender Oscar Piastri for the top spot in the final moments of practice at the Sao Paulo Grand Prix.
The British racer, who seized the championship lead from Piastri by one point after taking the win in the Mexican Grand Prix two weeks ago, topped the Melbourne-born driver by a tiny margin of 0.023secs.
Before then, Oscar Piastri had been the quickest of the McLaren pair throughout the hour before sprint qualifying scheduled for the evening session.
The Red Bull star, the only other driver in realistic title contention, lying 36 points Norris, finished in 17th place as his team opted for a different programme.
Verstappen's team-mate Yuki Tsunoda was the only driver to crash, albeit lightly, when he rotated at the fourth corner soon after starting.
The Japanese slid over the curbs on exit before rotating through the gravel trap, and was lucky to get away with just a minor contact of the barrier.
The Ferrari of the seven-time champion also spun, at the final moments of the practice, rotating twice through the fast downhill corner leading to the last turn on to the pit straight.
The seven-time champion ended the session in 19th place, trailing teammate the Monegasque driver.
The McLaren drivers were far ahead of the other competitors, with the German's Sauber P3, 0.619secs slower than the Australian's time.
The Aston Martin of Fernando Alonso was fourth quickest, with the Sauber of Gabriel Bortoleto ahead of Mercedes' George Russell and the Alpine of Pierre Gasly and the Williams of Sainz.
