Norris Tops Oscar Piastri in Brazilian Practice
The British driver has beaten his teammate at all of the last five grands prix.
Lando Norris narrowly beat fellow driver and title rival Oscar Piastri for the top spot in the final moments of practice at the Brazilian Grand Prix.
The British racer, who seized the championship lead from Piastri by one point after taking the win in Mexico City a fortnight back, beat the Australian by a mere 0.023s.
Until that point, Piastri had been the quickest of the McLaren pair throughout the hour before sprint qualifying scheduled for 18:30 GMT.
The Red Bull star, the sole remaining contender in the points battle, trailing 36 points behind Norris, finished in P17 as his team ran a unique setup.
Verstappen's team-mate Yuki Tsunoda was the sole competitor to have an incident, albeit lightly, when he lost control at Turn Four soon after starting.
The Japanese lost control over the exit kerbs before rotating through the gravel trap, and was lucky to escape with just a light touch of the wall.
The Ferrari of Lewis Hamilton also lost it, at the final moments of the practice, turning around through the fast downhill Mergulho corner approaching the final corner on to the start-finish straight.
Hamilton wrapped up in 19th, one place behind team-mate Charles Leclerc.
Norris and Piastri were significantly quicker of the rest of the field, with Nico Hulkenberg's car third fastest, over half a second off the Australian's time.
The Aston Martin of Fernando Alonso was fourth quickest, with Sauber's Bortoleto in front of Mercedes' Russell and Alpine's Gasly and Williams' Carlos Sainz.
