Lando Norris Tops Piastri in Sao Paulo Practice
Lando Norris has beaten his teammate at all of the past five race weekends.
Lando Norris edged out team-mate and title rival Oscar Piastri for the quickest lap in the final moments of the practice session at the Sao Paulo Grand Prix.
Norris, who seized the title advantage from Piastri by a single point after winning in the Mexican Grand Prix recently, beat the Australian by a tiny margin of 0.023secs.
Before then, Oscar Piastri had been the quickest of the McLaren pair throughout the hour before sprint qualifying due at 18:30 GMT.
The Red Bull star, the other racer in the points battle, trailing with a 36-point deficit Norris, finished in P17 as his team ran a different programme.
Verstappen's team-mate Yuki Tsunoda was the sole competitor to crash, albeit lightly, when he lost control at Turn Four early in the session.
Tsunoda slid over the exit kerbs before sliding over the run-off area, and was blessed to avoid just a light touch of the barrier.
The Ferrari of the seven-time champion also spun, at the very end of the session, turning around through the high-speed corner approaching the final corner on to the pit straight.
The seven-time champion wrapped up in 19th, trailing teammate the Monegasque driver.
The McLaren drivers were well clear of the remaining drivers, 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 Gabriel Bortoleto fifth from the Mercedes of Russell and the Alpine of Gasly and Williams' Sainz.
