Norris Tops Piastri in Sao Paulo Practice Session
The British driver has outperformed his teammate at each of the past five grands prix.
Lando Norris just pipped team-mate and title rival the Australian for the top spot in the closing stages of the practice session at the Brazilian Grand Prix.
Norris, who grabbed the championship lead from his teammate by a single point after winning in the Mexican Grand Prix recently, outpaced the Melbourne-born driver by a mere 0.023s.
Before then, Piastri had been the leading McLaren during the running before sprint qualifying scheduled for 6:30 PM GMT.
The Red Bull star, the other racer in realistic title contention, trailing 36 points behind Norris, was classified in 17th place as his team ran a unique setup.
Verstappen's team-mate Yuki Tsunoda was the only driver to crash, though minor, when he rotated at the fourth corner early in the session.
Tsunoda slid over the curbs on exit before spinning across the escape zone, and was lucky to get away with just a minor contact of the wall.
The Ferrari of Lewis Hamilton also had a spin, at the very end of the practice, rotating twice through the quick descending Mergulho turn before the final corner on to the start-finish straight.
Hamilton finished practice in 19th, trailing team-mate the Monegasque driver.
The McLaren pair were well clear of the remaining drivers, with Nico Hulkenberg's Sauber third fastest, over half a second behind Piastri's best.
Aston Martin's Fernando Alonso was in fourth, with the Sauber of Bortoleto ahead of the Mercedes of Russell and the Alpine of Gasly and the Williams of Carlos Sainz.
