Norris Tops Oscar Piastri in Sao Paulo Practice Session
Lando Norris has outscored his teammate at each of the past five grands prix.
Lando Norris just pipped fellow driver and championship contender the Australian for the fastest time in the closing stages of the practice session at the Brazilian Grand Prix.
Norris, who seized the points lead from Piastri by a single point after his victory in Mexico City recently, topped the Melbourne-born driver by a mere 0.023s.
Earlier in the session, Oscar Piastri had been the quickest of the McLaren pair throughout the hour before sprint qualifying set to begin at 6:30 PM GMT.
The Red Bull star, the sole remaining contender in realistic title contention, sitting 36 points behind Norris, finished in 17th place as his Red Bull team ran a different programme.
Verstappen's team-mate Yuki Tsunoda was the sole competitor to crash, if briefly, when he spun at corner four soon after starting.
The Japanese spun out over the curbs on exit before spinning across the gravel trap, and was lucky to get away with just a light touch of the fence.
The Ferrari of the seven-time champion also had a spin, at the very end of the practice, rotating twice through the high-speed Mergulho corner before the final corner on to the main straight.
Hamilton finished practice in 19th place, just behind teammate the Monegasque driver.
The McLaren pair were well clear of the rest of the field, with Nico Hulkenberg's Sauber P3, 0.619secs behind Piastri's pace.
Aston Martin's Fernando Alonso was fourth quickest, with Sauber's Bortoleto fifth from Mercedes' Russell and Alpine's Pierre Gasly and Williams' Sainz.
