Lando Norris Leads Oscar Piastri in Sao Paulo Practice
The British driver has beaten his teammate at each of the last five race weekends.
The McLaren driver narrowly beat team-mate and title rival the Australian for the top spot in the final moments 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 Melbourne-born driver by a mere 0.023s.
Earlier in the session, Piastri had been the quickest of the McLaren pair for most of the session before sprint qualifying due at 6:30 PM GMT.
The Red Bull star, the only other driver in realistic title contention, trailing 36 points behind Norris, finished in 17th place as his team followed a different programme.
Verstappen's team-mate Yuki Tsunoda was the sole competitor to crash, though minor, when he rotated at corner four early in the session.
The Japanese slid over the track edges before sliding over the escape zone, and was fortunate to get away with just a minor contact of the wall.
The Ferrari of Lewis Hamilton also lost it, at the final moments of the practice, spinning around through the fast downhill corner leading to the last turn on to the pit straight.
The seven-time champion finished practice in 19th place, one place behind team-mate Charles Leclerc.
The McLaren pair were significantly quicker of the other competitors, with Nico Hulkenberg's Sauber P3, over half a second slower than the Australian's time.
Aston Martin's Fernando Alonso was in fourth, with the Sauber of Gabriel Bortoleto ahead of Mercedes' Russell and the Alpine of Gasly and the Williams of Carlos Sainz.
