Lando Norris Edges Out Piastri in Sao Paulo Practice
Lando Norris has outperformed his teammate at each of the previous five grands prix.
Lando Norris narrowly beat fellow driver and title rival the Australian for the quickest lap in the dying seconds of the practice session at the Brazilian Grand Prix.
The British racer, who grabbed the title advantage from his teammate by one point after his victory in Mexico City two weeks ago, beat the Australian by a mere 0.023s.
Earlier in the session, Oscar Piastri had been the fastest McLaren driver during the running before the sprint shootout set to begin at 6:30 PM GMT.
The Red Bull star, the other racer in the championship fight, lying 36 points behind Norris, finished in 17th position as his team followed a alternative strategy.
Verstappen's team-mate Yuki Tsunoda was the only driver to have an incident, though minor, when he lost control at corner four during the early running.
The Japanese slid over the curbs on exit before sliding over the escape zone, and was blessed to get away with just a minor contact of the fence.
The Ferrari of Lewis Hamilton also lost it, at the conclusion of the session, rotating twice through the fast downhill Mergulho corner before the final bend on to the pit straight.
The veteran ended the session in P19, just behind teammate the Monegasque driver.
The McLaren drivers were far ahead of the rest of the field, with Nico Hulkenberg's car P3, over half a second slower than the Australian's time.
The Aston Martin of the Spanish driver was fourth fastest, with the Sauber of Bortoleto ahead of Mercedes' Russell and Alpine's Pierre Gasly and Williams' Carlos Sainz.
