Lando Norris Tops Oscar Piastri in Sao Paulo Practice
Lando Norris has beaten Oscar Piastri at each of the previous five race weekends.
The McLaren driver edged out team-mate and title rival Oscar Piastri for the top spot in the closing stages of practice at the Sao Paulo Grand Prix.
Norris, who grabbed the points lead from Piastri by just one point after taking the win in Mexico City recently, topped the Melbourne-born driver by 0.023 seconds.
Until that point, Piastri had been the quickest of the McLaren pair throughout the hour before sprint qualifying scheduled for the evening session.
The Red Bull star, the other racer in realistic title contention, trailing 36 points behind Norris, was classified in 17th place as his team ran a unique setup.
Verstappen's team-mate Yuki Tsunoda was the sole competitor to crash, though minor, when he spun at corner four soon after starting.
Tsunoda slid over the exit kerbs before rotating through the escape zone, and was fortunate to escape with just a slight brush of the fence.
The Ferrari of the seven-time champion also spun, at the conclusion of the session, rotating twice through the quick descending corner approaching the final bend on to the start-finish straight.
The seven-time champion ended the session in 19th place, trailing teammate Charles Leclerc.
The McLaren pair were far ahead of the remaining drivers, with the German's car P3, over half a second off Piastri's best.
Aston Martin's Fernando Alonso was fourth fastest, with Sauber's Bortoleto fifth from the Mercedes of George Russell and the Alpine of Gasly and Williams' Sainz.