Norris Edges Out Piastri in Brazilian Practice Session
The British driver has outperformed his teammate at all of the last five grands prix.
Lando Norris just pipped fellow driver and title rival the Australian for the quickest lap in the final moments of the practice session at the Brazilian Grand Prix.
Norris, who seized the championship lead from his teammate by a single point after taking the win in Mexico City two weeks ago, outpaced the Australian by 0.023 seconds.
Before then, Oscar Piastri had been the fastest McLaren driver for most of the session before the sprint shootout due at the evening session.
The Red Bull star, the only other driver in the points battle, lying 36 points behind behind Norris, was classified in 17th place as his Red Bull team followed a alternative strategy.
Verstappen's team-mate the Japanese driver was the sole competitor to have an incident, if briefly, when he spun at Turn Four soon after starting.
The Japanese slid over the track edges before spinning across the gravel trap, and was fortunate to avoid just a slight brush of the barrier.
The Ferrari of the seven-time champion also lost it, at the very end of the practice, turning around through the high-speed Mergulho turn leading to the last turn on to the start-finish straight.
The seven-time champion finished practice in 19th, one place behind teammate Charles Leclerc.
The McLaren pair were significantly quicker of the remaining drivers, with the German's car P3, 0.619 seconds behind Piastri's pace.
The Aston Martin of Fernando Alonso was in fourth, with the Sauber of Bortoleto fifth from Mercedes' George Russell and Alpine's Pierre Gasly and the Williams of Carlos Sainz.
