Norris Leads Piastri in Brazilian Practice Session
Lando Norris has outscored Oscar Piastri at all of the past five grands prix.
Lando Norris just pipped team-mate and championship contender Oscar Piastri for the quickest lap in the closing stages of the practice session at the Sao Paulo Grand Prix.
Norris, who seized the points lead from his teammate by just one point after his victory in Mexico City a fortnight back, outpaced the Melbourne-born driver by a mere 0.023s.
Before then, Oscar Piastri had been the quickest of the McLaren pair during the running before the sprint shootout due at 6:30 PM GMT.
The Red Bull star, the sole remaining contender in the points battle, trailing with a 36-point deficit behind Norris, was classified in 17th place as his Red Bull team opted for a different programme.
Verstappen's team-mate Yuki Tsunoda was the only driver to crash, if briefly, when he lost control at Turn Four during the early running.
The Japanese slid over the curbs on exit before spinning across the run-off area, and was lucky to get away with just a slight brush of the wall.
Ferrari's Lewis Hamilton also had a spin, at the final moments of the session, rotating twice through the high-speed corner before the last turn on to the pit straight.
Hamilton wrapped up in 19th place, one place behind team-mate Charles Leclerc.
The McLaren drivers were far ahead of the remaining drivers, with the German's car third fastest, over half a second off the Australian's time.
The Aston Martin of Fernando Alonso was in fourth, with the Sauber of Gabriel Bortoleto fifth from Mercedes' George Russell and Alpine's Gasly and Williams' Carlos Sainz.
