Lando Norris Tops Oscar Piastri in Sao Paulo Practice
The British driver has outscored his teammate at all of the previous five grands prix.
The McLaren driver narrowly beat fellow driver and championship contender Oscar Piastri for the quickest lap in the dying seconds of practice at the Brazilian Grand Prix.
The British racer, who seized the championship lead from his teammate by just one point after his victory in Mexico City recently, outpaced the Australian by a tiny margin of 0.023secs.
Earlier in the session, Oscar Piastri had been the quickest of the McLaren pair throughout the hour before the sprint shootout set to begin at the evening session.
The Red Bull star, the sole remaining contender in realistic title contention, trailing 36 points behind Norris, ended up in 17th position as his Red Bull team opted for a alternative strategy.
Verstappen's team-mate the Japanese driver was the sole competitor to have an incident, albeit lightly, when he lost control at the fourth corner soon after starting.
The Japanese spun out over the track edges before sliding over the run-off area, and was fortunate to avoid just a slight brush of the wall.
The Ferrari of the seven-time champion also had a spin, at the conclusion of the session, turning around through the fast downhill Mergulho corner approaching the final bend on to the pit straight.
The veteran ended the session in P19, one place behind team-mate Charles Leclerc.
The McLaren pair were significantly quicker of the other competitors, with the German's car P3, 0.619secs slower than the Australian's time.
Aston Martin's the Spanish driver was in fourth, with the Sauber of Bortoleto in front of the Mercedes of Russell and the Alpine of Pierre Gasly and Williams' Sainz.
