Norris Tops Piastri in Brazilian Practice Session
The British driver has outscored his teammate at each of the previous five race weekends.
Lando Norris edged out team-mate and title rival the Australian for the fastest time in the dying seconds of practice at the Brazilian Grand Prix.
The British racer, who took the points lead from Piastri by just one point after taking the win in Mexico City a fortnight back, topped the Australian by a tiny margin of 0.023secs.
Before then, Oscar Piastri had been the fastest McLaren driver throughout the hour before the sprint shootout due at the evening session.
The Red Bull star, the only other driver in the championship fight, sitting with a 36-point deficit behind Norris, finished in 17th position as his team opted for a unique setup.
Verstappen's team-mate Yuki Tsunoda was the sole competitor to go off, if briefly, when he rotated at Turn Four early in the session.
Tsunoda lost control over the track edges before sliding over the run-off area, and was lucky to avoid just a minor contact of the wall.
The Ferrari of Lewis Hamilton also spun, at the final moments of the session, turning around through the quick descending Mergulho turn before the last turn on to the pit straight.
Hamilton wrapped up in P19, trailing team-mate Charles Leclerc.
Norris and Piastri were well clear of the other competitors, with the German's Sauber third fastest, over half a second slower than the Australian's time.
The Aston Martin of Fernando Alonso was in fourth, with the Sauber of Bortoleto fifth from Mercedes' Russell and Alpine's Gasly and Williams' Sainz.
