Norris Edges Out Oscar Piastri in Brazilian Practice
Lando Norris has beaten Oscar Piastri at each of the past five race weekends.
The McLaren driver narrowly beat team-mate and championship contender the Australian for the fastest time in the dying seconds of the practice session at the Sao Paulo Grand Prix.
Norris, who took the points lead from his teammate by a single 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 quickest of the McLaren pair for most of the session before the sprint shootout scheduled for 18:30 GMT.
The Red Bull star, the other racer in realistic title contention, lying 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 sole competitor to crash, if briefly, when he rotated at Turn Four early in the session.
The Japanese lost control over the curbs on exit before sliding over the run-off area, and was lucky to get away with just a light touch of the fence.
Ferrari's the seven-time champion also lost it, at the final moments of the practice, spinning around through the quick descending Mergulho turn leading to the last turn on to the start-finish straight.
The seven-time champion finished practice in P19, just behind team-mate the Monegasque driver.
The McLaren pair were well clear of the rest of the field, with Nico Hulkenberg's Sauber third fastest, 0.619 seconds slower than Piastri's pace.
Aston Martin's Fernando Alonso was in fourth, with the Sauber of Bortoleto fifth from Mercedes' George Russell and Alpine's Gasly and Williams' Sainz.
