Norris Edges Out Piastri in Brazilian Practice
Lando Norris has outscored his teammate at each of the last five race weekends.
The McLaren driver just pipped fellow driver and championship contender the Australian for the fastest time in the dying seconds of practice at the Sao Paulo Grand Prix.
The British racer, who grabbed the title advantage from his teammate by one point after winning in the Mexican Grand Prix a fortnight back, topped the Melbourne-born driver by a mere 0.023s.
Before then, Piastri had been the fastest McLaren driver during the running before sprint qualifying due at 6:30 PM GMT.
The Red Bull star, the other racer in realistic title contention, lying with a 36-point deficit behind Norris, ended up in 17th place as his team followed a unique setup.
Verstappen's team-mate the Japanese driver was the only driver to crash, if briefly, when he lost control at corner four soon after starting.
The Japanese lost control over the curbs on exit before spinning across the gravel trap, and was blessed to avoid just a light touch of the barrier.
The Ferrari of the seven-time champion also spun, at the conclusion of the practice, rotating twice through the high-speed Mergulho corner leading to the final bend on to the start-finish straight.
The seven-time champion ended the session in P19, one place behind teammate the Monegasque driver.
The McLaren drivers were far ahead of the rest of the field, with the German's car P3, 0.619secs behind the Australian's time.
Aston Martin's Fernando Alonso was in fourth, with Sauber's Bortoleto fifth from Mercedes' Russell and the Alpine of Gasly and Williams' Carlos Sainz.
