Lando Norris Tops Piastri in Brazilian Practice
The British driver has beaten Oscar Piastri at each of the previous five grands prix.
Lando Norris just pipped team-mate and title rival the Australian for the fastest time in the final moments of practice at the Sao Paulo Grand Prix.
Norris, who grabbed the title advantage from Piastri by a single point after winning in the Mexican Grand Prix a fortnight back, topped the Melbourne-born driver by 0.023 seconds.
Until that point, Oscar Piastri had been the quickest of the McLaren pair throughout the hour before the sprint shootout scheduled for 18:30 GMT.
The Red Bull star, the other racer in the championship fight, trailing with a 36-point deficit Norris, finished in 17th position as his team opted for a unique setup.
Verstappen's team-mate Yuki Tsunoda was the sole competitor to go off, though minor, when he spun at Turn Four during the early running.
The Japanese slid over the track edges before sliding over the escape zone, and was fortunate to escape with just a minor contact of the barrier.
Ferrari's the seven-time champion also lost it, at the very end of the practice, turning around through the fast downhill corner leading to the last turn on to the pit straight.
The veteran wrapped up in P19, trailing teammate Charles Leclerc.
Norris and Piastri were significantly quicker of the rest of the field, with the German's Sauber in third, 0.619 seconds off Piastri's best.
Aston Martin's Fernando Alonso was fourth quickest, with Sauber's Gabriel Bortoleto fifth from the Mercedes of George Russell and Alpine's Pierre Gasly and Williams' Carlos Sainz.
