Norris Tops Oscar Piastri in Brazilian Practice Session
Lando Norris has outperformed his teammate at each of the previous five race weekends.
Lando Norris just pipped fellow driver and championship contender Oscar Piastri for the fastest time in the dying seconds of the practice session at the Brazilian Grand Prix.
Norris, who grabbed the points lead from his teammate by just one point after winning in the Mexican Grand Prix recently, beat the Australian by a mere 0.023s.
Earlier in the session, Piastri had been the fastest McLaren driver for most of the session before the sprint shootout due at 18:30 GMT.
The Red Bull star, the other racer in realistic title contention, trailing 36 points Norris, ended up in P17 as his team opted for a different programme.
Verstappen's team-mate Yuki Tsunoda was the sole competitor to crash, if briefly, when he spun at corner four during the early running.
The Japanese lost control over the track edges before spinning across the gravel trap, and was blessed to get away with just a minor contact of the wall.
The Ferrari of the seven-time champion also had a spin, at the conclusion of the session, turning around through the quick descending corner approaching the final bend on to the pit straight.
The veteran wrapped up in 19th place, trailing team-mate the Monegasque driver.
Norris and Piastri were far ahead of the other competitors, with the German's car third fastest, over half a second behind Piastri's best.
The Aston Martin of the Spanish driver was fourth quickest, with the Sauber of Bortoleto in front of the Mercedes of Russell and the Alpine of Pierre Gasly and the Williams of Carlos Sainz.
