Lando Norris Tops Piastri in Brazilian Practice
Lando Norris has outperformed his teammate at all of the previous five race weekends.
Lando Norris narrowly beat fellow driver and championship contender Oscar Piastri for the quickest lap in the dying seconds of the practice session at the Brazilian Grand Prix.
Norris, who seized the championship lead from his teammate by just one point after taking the win in Mexico City two weeks ago, outpaced the Australian by a mere 0.023s.
Before then, Oscar Piastri had been the fastest McLaren driver during the running before sprint qualifying set to begin at the evening session.
The Red Bull star, the only other driver in the points battle, lying with a 36-point deficit Norris, was classified in P17 as his team opted for a alternative strategy.
Verstappen's team-mate Yuki Tsunoda was the sole competitor to crash, though minor, when he spun at Turn Four during the early running.
The Japanese lost control over the curbs on exit before sliding over the gravel trap, and was lucky to escape with just a light touch of the wall.
Ferrari's the seven-time champion also had a spin, at the final moments of the practice, rotating twice through the high-speed Mergulho turn approaching the last turn on to the start-finish straight.
The veteran finished practice in 19th place, one place behind team-mate Charles Leclerc.
Norris and Piastri were significantly quicker of the rest of the field, with Nico Hulkenberg's Sauber in third, 0.619secs behind the Australian's time.
Aston Martin's Fernando Alonso was fourth quickest, with Sauber's Gabriel Bortoleto ahead of Mercedes' George Russell and Alpine's Pierre Gasly and the Williams of Carlos Sainz.
