Lando Norris Edges Out Piastri in Brazilian Practice
Lando Norris has outperformed Oscar Piastri at all of the last five grands prix.
Lando Norris edged out team-mate and title rival the Australian for the quickest lap in the closing stages of practice at the Sao Paulo Grand Prix.
Norris, who took the title advantage from his teammate by a single point after his victory in Mexico City two weeks ago, topped the Melbourne-born driver by a tiny margin of 0.023secs.
Earlier in the session, Oscar Piastri had been the leading McLaren throughout the hour before sprint qualifying set to begin at 18:30 GMT.
The Red Bull star, the only other driver in realistic title contention, trailing 36 points Norris, ended up in 17th position as his Red Bull team ran a alternative strategy.
Verstappen's team-mate Yuki Tsunoda was the only driver to crash, though minor, when he rotated at corner four during the early running.
Tsunoda lost control over the curbs on exit before sliding over the run-off area, and was blessed to avoid just a slight brush of the barrier.
Ferrari's the seven-time champion also lost it, at the conclusion of the session, turning around through the fast downhill corner approaching the final corner on to the main straight.
The veteran ended the session in P19, just behind teammate Charles Leclerc.
The McLaren pair were significantly quicker of the remaining drivers, with Nico Hulkenberg's Sauber third fastest, over half a second slower than Piastri's best.
The Aston Martin of the Spanish driver was fourth fastest, with Sauber's Gabriel Bortoleto in front of Mercedes' George Russell and Alpine's Gasly and Williams' Carlos Sainz.
