Norris Leads Oscar Piastri in Sao Paulo Practice Session
The British driver has outperformed Oscar Piastri at each of the past five grands prix.
The McLaren driver narrowly beat team-mate and championship contender Oscar Piastri for the quickest lap in the closing stages of practice at the Brazilian Grand Prix.
Norris, who seized the title advantage from his teammate by one point after winning in the Mexican Grand Prix recently, beat the Australian by a tiny margin of 0.023secs.
Before then, Oscar Piastri had been the leading McLaren throughout the hour before the sprint shootout scheduled for the evening session.
The Red Bull star, the other racer in the championship fight, trailing with a 36-point deficit behind Norris, finished in P17 as his team followed a alternative strategy.
Verstappen's team-mate the Japanese driver was the only driver to go off, though minor, when he spun at corner four during the early running.
The Japanese spun out over the track edges before spinning across the run-off area, and was fortunate to escape with just a light touch of the wall.
The Ferrari of Lewis Hamilton also lost it, at the very end of the practice, spinning around through the quick descending corner approaching the final corner on to the main straight.
Hamilton ended the session in 19th, trailing teammate the Monegasque driver.
The McLaren pair were far ahead of the remaining drivers, with Nico Hulkenberg's Sauber in third, 0.619 seconds behind Piastri's pace.
The Aston Martin of Fernando Alonso was fourth fastest, with the Sauber of Gabriel Bortoleto ahead of Mercedes' Russell and the Alpine of Pierre Gasly and Williams' Carlos Sainz.
