Norris Edges Out Oscar Piastri in Sao Paulo Practice Session
Lando Norris has outperformed his teammate at all of the last five race weekends.
Lando Norris edged out team-mate and championship contender Oscar Piastri for the top spot in the closing stages of practice at the Sao Paulo Grand Prix.
The British racer, who grabbed the championship lead from his teammate by a single point after his victory in the Mexican Grand Prix two weeks ago, outpaced the Australian by a mere 0.023s.
Earlier in the session, Oscar Piastri had been the quickest of the McLaren pair during the running before the sprint shootout set to begin at 18:30 GMT.
The Red Bull star, the sole remaining contender in the championship fight, lying 36 points behind behind Norris, finished in P17 as his Red Bull team followed a alternative strategy.
Verstappen's team-mate Yuki Tsunoda was the sole competitor to go off, if briefly, when he lost control at corner four early in the session.
Tsunoda slid over the track edges before sliding over the run-off area, and was lucky to get away with just a slight brush of the wall.
The Ferrari of the seven-time champion also had a spin, at the very end of the session, turning around through the quick descending Mergulho turn before the final corner on to the pit straight.
The veteran wrapped up in P19, just behind team-mate the Monegasque driver.
Norris and Piastri were well clear of the other competitors, with the German's car P3, 0.619 seconds slower than Piastri's best.
Aston Martin's the Spanish driver was in fourth, with Sauber's Bortoleto fifth from Mercedes' George Russell and Alpine's Gasly and Williams' Carlos Sainz.
