Lando Norris Tops Piastri in Brazilian Practice
The British driver has beaten his teammate at all of the previous five grands prix.
The McLaren driver edged out team-mate and title rival the Australian for the fastest time in the final moments of the practice session at the Sao Paulo Grand Prix.
Norris, who grabbed the points lead from his teammate by just one point after his victory in the Mexican Grand Prix two weeks ago, outpaced the Melbourne-born driver by a mere 0.023s.
Before then, Oscar Piastri had been the leading McLaren for most of the session before the sprint shootout due at 6:30 PM GMT.
The Red Bull star, the other racer in the championship fight, lying with a 36-point deficit Norris, finished in P17 as his Red Bull team opted for a alternative strategy.
Verstappen's team-mate Yuki Tsunoda was the sole competitor to go off, if briefly, when he spun at corner four soon after starting.
Tsunoda slid over the track edges before sliding over the run-off area, and was fortunate to escape with just a light touch of the fence.
Ferrari's Lewis Hamilton also lost it, at the conclusion of the session, spinning around through the quick descending Mergulho turn leading to the last turn on to the pit straight.
Hamilton wrapped up in 19th, trailing team-mate the Monegasque driver.
The McLaren pair were significantly quicker of the remaining drivers, with Nico Hulkenberg's Sauber P3, 0.619secs behind the Australian's time.
Aston Martin's Fernando Alonso was fourth quickest, with Sauber's Bortoleto fifth from Mercedes' Russell and the Alpine of Pierre Gasly and Williams' Sainz.
