Norris Edges Out Oscar Piastri in Sao Paulo Practice
The British driver has beaten Oscar Piastri at all of the past five grands prix.
The McLaren driver just pipped fellow driver and championship contender the Australian for the fastest time in the final moments of practice at the Sao Paulo Grand Prix.
The British racer, who grabbed the points lead from his teammate by a single point after taking the win in Mexico City recently, outpaced the Melbourne-born driver by 0.023 seconds.
Before then, Oscar Piastri had been the leading McLaren throughout the hour before sprint qualifying set to begin at 18:30 GMT.
The Red Bull star, the only other driver in the points battle, trailing with a 36-point deficit Norris, was classified in P17 as his Red Bull team followed a alternative strategy.
Verstappen's team-mate the Japanese driver was the sole competitor to go off, if briefly, when he rotated at corner four soon after starting.
The Japanese spun out over the track edges before sliding over the escape zone, and was lucky to avoid just a slight brush of the wall.
Ferrari's Lewis Hamilton also had a spin, at the conclusion of the session, rotating twice through the high-speed corner before the final corner on to the main straight.
The veteran finished practice in 19th place, one place behind team-mate the Monegasque driver.
The McLaren drivers were significantly quicker of the remaining drivers, with Nico Hulkenberg's Sauber third fastest, over half a second behind Piastri's pace.
The Aston Martin of Fernando Alonso was fourth quickest, with the Sauber of Bortoleto fifth from Mercedes' Russell and Alpine's Gasly and the Williams of Sainz.
