Lando Norris Tops Oscar Piastri in Sao Paulo Practice
The British driver has beaten his teammate at all of the past five grands prix.
Lando Norris narrowly beat fellow driver and title rival the Australian for the quickest lap in the final moments of the practice session at the Sao Paulo Grand Prix.
Norris, who took the title advantage from Piastri by one point after taking the win in Mexico City two weeks ago, beat the Australian by a tiny margin of 0.023secs.
Before then, Oscar Piastri had been the leading McLaren for most of the session before sprint qualifying set to begin at the evening session.
The Red Bull star, the other racer in the points battle, lying 36 points Norris, ended up in 17th position as his team opted for a unique setup.
Verstappen's team-mate Yuki Tsunoda was the only driver to go off, albeit lightly, when he spun at corner four soon after starting.
The Japanese lost control over the track edges before spinning across the run-off area, and was blessed to escape with just a slight brush of the wall.
The Ferrari of Lewis Hamilton also spun, at the final moments of the practice, spinning around through the high-speed Mergulho corner before the final corner on to the pit straight.
The veteran wrapped up in 19th place, one place behind team-mate Charles Leclerc.
The McLaren pair were significantly quicker of the remaining drivers, with Nico Hulkenberg's car in third, over half a second slower than Piastri's best.
The Aston Martin of Fernando Alonso was fourth fastest, with the Sauber of Bortoleto fifth from the Mercedes of Russell and the Alpine of Gasly and the Williams of Sainz.
