Norris Edges Out Piastri in Brazilian Practice
Lando Norris has outperformed his teammate at all of the past five grands prix.
The McLaren driver narrowly beat fellow driver and title rival the Australian for the quickest lap in the closing stages of the practice session at the Brazilian Grand Prix.
The British racer, who seized the title advantage from Piastri by one point after his victory in the Mexican Grand Prix a fortnight back, outpaced 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 set to begin at the evening session.
The Red Bull star, the sole remaining contender in the championship fight, lying with a 36-point deficit behind Norris, was classified in 17th place as his Red Bull team ran a different programme.
Verstappen's team-mate the Japanese driver was the only driver to go off, albeit lightly, when he rotated at the fourth corner during the early running.
The Japanese spun out over the curbs on exit before sliding over the escape zone, and was blessed to avoid just a light touch of the fence.
Ferrari's Lewis Hamilton also lost it, at the conclusion of the session, spinning around through the high-speed corner before the final bend on to the start-finish straight.
Hamilton finished practice in 19th place, just behind team-mate the Monegasque driver.
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.
Aston Martin's Fernando Alonso was in fourth, with the Sauber of Gabriel Bortoleto fifth from Mercedes' George Russell and Alpine's Gasly and Williams' Sainz.
