Norris Leads Piastri in Brazilian Practice
Lando Norris has outperformed Oscar Piastri at each of the previous five race weekends.
Lando Norris just pipped team-mate and title rival the Australian for the fastest time in the dying seconds of practice at the Brazilian Grand Prix.
Norris, who took the points lead from Piastri by just one point after winning in the Mexican Grand Prix a fortnight back, topped the Australian by a tiny margin of 0.023secs.
Before then, Piastri had been the quickest of the McLaren pair throughout the hour before sprint qualifying scheduled for the evening session.
The Red Bull star, the other racer in the championship fight, sitting 36 points behind behind Norris, was classified 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 spun at corner four early in the session.
Tsunoda spun out over the curbs on exit before rotating through the escape zone, and was blessed to avoid just a slight brush of the barrier.
Ferrari's the seven-time champion also had a spin, at the final moments of the session, rotating twice through the high-speed Mergulho corner approaching the final bend on to the main straight.
The veteran finished practice in 19th, one place behind teammate the Monegasque driver.
The McLaren drivers were significantly quicker of the remaining drivers, with Nico Hulkenberg's Sauber third fastest, 0.619secs slower than Piastri's best.
Aston Martin's Fernando Alonso was in fourth, with the Sauber of Bortoleto ahead of the Mercedes of George Russell and the Alpine of Gasly and the Williams of Sainz.
