Lando Norris Edges Out Piastri in Sao Paulo Practice
Lando Norris has outperformed his teammate at each of the past five race weekends.
The McLaren driver narrowly beat team-mate and title rival the Australian for the top spot in the final moments of the practice session at the Brazilian Grand Prix.
The British racer, who took the title advantage from his teammate by a single point after winning in Mexico City recently, topped the Australian by 0.023 seconds.
Before then, Piastri had been the quickest of the McLaren pair for most of the session before sprint qualifying due at the evening session.
The Red Bull star, the sole remaining contender in realistic title contention, lying 36 points behind Norris, ended up in 17th position as his team ran a different programme.
Verstappen's team-mate the Japanese driver was the sole competitor to crash, if briefly, when he rotated at corner four early in the session.
The Japanese spun out over the exit kerbs before spinning across the gravel trap, and was lucky to get away with just a minor contact of the wall.
The Ferrari of the seven-time champion also lost it, at the very end of the session, rotating twice through the high-speed Mergulho turn leading to the final corner on to the pit straight.
The seven-time champion wrapped up in 19th place, just behind team-mate the Monegasque driver.
The McLaren pair were significantly quicker of the rest of the field, with Nico Hulkenberg's car in third, 0.619 seconds slower than Piastri's pace.
Aston Martin's the Spanish driver was in fourth, with the Sauber of Bortoleto in front of Mercedes' George Russell and the Alpine of Gasly and the Williams of Sainz.