Norris Tops Piastri in Sao Paulo Practice Session
The British driver has outscored Oscar Piastri at all of the past five grands prix.
Lando Norris narrowly beat fellow driver and championship contender Oscar Piastri for the quickest lap in the dying seconds of the practice session at the Brazilian Grand Prix.
Norris, who seized the championship lead from his teammate by a single point after his victory in the Mexican Grand Prix a fortnight back, topped the Australian by 0.023 seconds.
Before then, Oscar Piastri had been the leading McLaren for most of the session before sprint qualifying scheduled for the evening session.
The Red Bull star, the other racer in realistic title contention, lying 36 points behind behind Norris, finished in 17th place as his team followed a different programme.
Verstappen's team-mate the Japanese driver was the only driver to crash, if briefly, when he lost control at corner four during the early running.
The Japanese spun out over the track edges before spinning across the escape zone, and was fortunate to escape with just a minor contact of the barrier.
Ferrari's the seven-time champion also had a spin, at the conclusion of the session, spinning around through the high-speed corner approaching the last turn on to the start-finish straight.
The veteran finished practice in 19th, just behind teammate Charles Leclerc.
Norris and Piastri were well clear of the other competitors, with the German's car in third, 0.619secs slower than the Australian's time.
The Aston Martin of the Spanish driver was in fourth, with the Sauber of Bortoleto ahead of the Mercedes of Russell and Alpine's Pierre Gasly and the Williams of Carlos Sainz.
