Lando Norris Tops Piastri in Brazilian Practice
Lando Norris has beaten his teammate at all of the past five race weekends.
Lando Norris narrowly beat fellow driver and title rival Oscar Piastri for the quickest lap in the closing stages of the practice session at the Sao Paulo Grand Prix.
Norris, who seized the points lead from his teammate by just one point after his victory in Mexico City a fortnight back, outpaced the Australian by a tiny margin of 0.023secs.
Before then, Oscar Piastri had been the leading McLaren during the running before sprint qualifying due at 18:30 GMT.
The Red Bull star, the other racer in the points battle, trailing 36 points behind behind Norris, ended up in 17th place as his team opted for a alternative strategy.
Verstappen's team-mate Yuki Tsunoda was the only driver to have an incident, albeit lightly, when he rotated at corner four early in the session.
The Japanese slid over the exit kerbs before rotating through the gravel trap, and was blessed to avoid just a light touch of the fence.
The Ferrari of the seven-time champion also had a spin, at the final moments of the practice, rotating twice through the fast downhill Mergulho turn approaching the last turn on to the main straight.
The seven-time champion wrapped up in 19th, trailing team-mate Charles Leclerc.
The McLaren pair were well clear of the remaining drivers, with Nico Hulkenberg's car P3, over half a second behind Piastri's pace.
Aston Martin's Fernando Alonso was in fourth, with the Sauber of Bortoleto fifth from the Mercedes of Russell and the Alpine of Gasly and the Williams of Sainz.
