Lando Norris Edges Out Piastri in Brazilian Practice Session
The British driver has outscored Oscar Piastri at all of the previous five grands prix.
Lando Norris just pipped team-mate and championship contender Oscar Piastri for the quickest lap in the dying seconds of the practice session at the Sao Paulo Grand Prix.
The British racer, who took the points lead from his teammate by one point after winning in Mexico City recently, outpaced the Australian by a tiny margin of 0.023secs.
Before then, Piastri had been the leading McLaren throughout the hour before sprint qualifying scheduled for the evening session.
The Red Bull star, the sole remaining contender in realistic title contention, sitting 36 points behind Norris, was classified in 17th position as his Red Bull team opted for a alternative strategy.
Verstappen's team-mate Yuki Tsunoda was the only driver to have an incident, though minor, when he lost control at Turn Four soon after starting.
Tsunoda lost control over the exit kerbs before rotating through the gravel trap, and was lucky to avoid just a minor contact of the wall.
The Ferrari of the seven-time champion also lost it, at the final moments of the session, rotating twice through the high-speed Mergulho turn leading to the last turn on to the pit straight.
The veteran finished practice in 19th, just behind team-mate Charles Leclerc.
Norris and Piastri were well clear of the remaining drivers, with the German's car in third, 0.619secs off the Australian's time.
The Aston Martin of the Spanish driver was in fourth, with the Sauber of Gabriel Bortoleto ahead of the Mercedes of Russell and Alpine's Gasly and Williams' Sainz.
