Norris Edges Out Piastri in Brazilian Practice
The British driver has outperformed his teammate at all of the past five grands prix.
Lando Norris edged out fellow driver and championship contender Oscar Piastri for the quickest lap in the closing stages of the practice session at the Sao Paulo Grand Prix.
Norris, who seized the championship lead from his teammate by a single point after his victory in Mexico City a fortnight back, beat the Melbourne-born driver by a tiny margin of 0.023secs.
Until that point, Oscar Piastri had been the fastest McLaren driver during the running before the sprint shootout set to begin at the evening session.
The Red Bull star, the other racer in the points battle, sitting 36 points behind behind Norris, was classified in 17th place as his team followed a unique setup.
Verstappen's team-mate Yuki Tsunoda was the only driver to go off, albeit lightly, when he rotated at corner four early in the session.
The Japanese spun out over the exit kerbs before sliding over the escape zone, and was blessed to avoid just a minor contact of the barrier.
Ferrari's the seven-time champion also lost it, at the final moments of the practice, spinning around through the quick descending corner leading to the final corner on to the start-finish straight.
Hamilton wrapped up in P19, trailing teammate Charles Leclerc.
Norris and Piastri were significantly quicker of the remaining drivers, with the German's car in third, over half a second off Piastri's best.
Aston Martin's Fernando Alonso was fourth fastest, with the Sauber of Gabriel Bortoleto fifth from the Mercedes of George Russell and Alpine's Gasly and Williams' Sainz.
