Norris Tops Oscar Piastri in Sao Paulo Practice
Lando Norris has outscored his teammate at all of the past five grands prix.
Lando Norris narrowly beat fellow driver and title rival Oscar Piastri for the fastest time in the final moments of the practice session at the Brazilian Grand Prix.
The British racer, who took the points lead from his teammate by just one point after taking the win in the Mexican Grand Prix a fortnight back, topped the Australian by a tiny margin of 0.023secs.
Earlier in the session, Piastri had been the leading McLaren during the running before sprint qualifying scheduled for the evening session.
The Red Bull star, the sole remaining contender in realistic title contention, lying 36 points Norris, was classified in 17th place as his team ran a unique setup.
Verstappen's team-mate Yuki Tsunoda was the only driver to have an incident, if briefly, when he rotated at Turn Four during the early running.
Tsunoda spun out over the exit kerbs before spinning across the run-off area, and was blessed to get away with just a minor contact of the barrier.
The Ferrari of Lewis Hamilton also lost it, at the conclusion of the practice, turning around through the quick descending Mergulho turn before the final corner on to the main straight.
The seven-time champion wrapped up in 19th, one place behind teammate Charles Leclerc.
The McLaren pair were far ahead of the rest of the field, with the German's car in third, 0.619 seconds behind the Australian's time.
The Aston Martin of the Spanish driver was fourth quickest, with the Sauber of Bortoleto ahead of the Mercedes of Russell and the Alpine of Gasly and the Williams of Sainz.
