Norris Edges Out Oscar Piastri in Brazilian Practice
Lando Norris has beaten Oscar Piastri at all of the previous five grands prix.
The McLaren driver just pipped fellow driver and championship contender the Australian for the fastest time in the dying seconds of the practice session at the Sao Paulo Grand Prix.
The British racer, who grabbed the points lead from his teammate by just one point after taking the win in Mexico City recently, outpaced the Melbourne-born driver by a mere 0.023s.
Earlier in the session, Piastri had been the quickest of the McLaren pair for most of the session before sprint qualifying due at the evening session.
The Red Bull star, the only other driver in the points battle, sitting 36 points behind behind Norris, was classified in 17th place as his team followed a different programme.
Verstappen's team-mate the Japanese driver was the sole competitor to have an incident, albeit lightly, when he lost control at corner four early in the session.
The Japanese lost control over the track edges before spinning across the run-off area, and was lucky to avoid just a minor contact of the fence.
The Ferrari of Lewis Hamilton also spun, at the very end of the session, rotating twice through the fast downhill Mergulho turn before the final corner on to the main straight.
The seven-time champion ended the session in P19, just behind teammate the Monegasque driver.
The McLaren drivers were significantly quicker of the other competitors, with the German's Sauber third fastest, over half a second slower than the Australian's time.
Aston Martin's the Spanish driver was fourth fastest, with Sauber's Bortoleto fifth from the Mercedes of Russell and the Alpine of Gasly and the Williams of Carlos Sainz.
