Norris Tops Piastri in Sao Paulo Practice
The British driver has outscored his teammate at each of the past five race weekends.
Lando Norris narrowly beat fellow driver and championship contender the Australian for the top spot in the dying seconds of practice at the Sao Paulo Grand Prix.
Norris, who seized the championship lead from his teammate by just one point after his victory in the Mexican Grand Prix two weeks ago, outpaced the Australian by 0.023 seconds.
Until that point, Piastri had been the leading McLaren for most of the session before sprint qualifying set to begin at the evening session.
The Red Bull star, the sole remaining contender in realistic title contention, trailing with a 36-point deficit behind Norris, ended up in P17 as his Red Bull team ran a alternative strategy.
Verstappen's team-mate Yuki Tsunoda was the only driver to crash, albeit lightly, when he lost control at the fourth corner soon after starting.
The Japanese lost control over the track edges before rotating through the escape zone, and was fortunate to escape with just a light touch of the wall.
The Ferrari of Lewis Hamilton also spun, at the conclusion of the session, rotating twice through the quick descending corner before the final bend on to the pit straight.
Hamilton wrapped up in P19, just behind teammate the Monegasque driver.
Norris and Piastri were far ahead of the other competitors, with Nico Hulkenberg's Sauber P3, 0.619secs behind Piastri's pace.
Aston Martin's the Spanish driver was fourth fastest, with the Sauber of Bortoleto in front of Mercedes' Russell and Alpine's Gasly and Williams' Carlos Sainz.
