Lando Norris Leads Piastri in Sao Paulo Practice
The British driver has beaten Oscar Piastri at all of the last five grands prix.
The McLaren driver narrowly beat team-mate and championship contender the Australian for the fastest time in the closing stages of the practice session at the Sao Paulo Grand Prix.
The British racer, who seized the championship lead from his teammate by one point after winning in Mexico City two weeks ago, topped the Australian by a mere 0.023s.
Earlier in the session, Oscar Piastri had been the leading McLaren during the running before the sprint shootout set to begin at 6:30 PM 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 alternative strategy.
Verstappen's team-mate Yuki Tsunoda was the sole competitor to have an incident, if briefly, when he lost control at corner four during the early running.
Tsunoda lost control over the curbs on exit before spinning across the gravel trap, and was fortunate to escape with just a slight brush of the fence.
The Ferrari of Lewis Hamilton also lost it, at the conclusion of the practice, turning around through the fast downhill corner before the final corner on to the main straight.
The seven-time champion finished practice in 19th, one place behind teammate Charles Leclerc.
The McLaren drivers were well clear of the remaining drivers, with Nico Hulkenberg's car third fastest, over half a second slower than Piastri's best.
The Aston Martin of the Spanish driver was fourth fastest, with the Sauber of Bortoleto in front of the Mercedes of George Russell and the Alpine of Pierre Gasly and Williams' Carlos Sainz.
