Norris Leads Piastri in Sao Paulo Practice Session
The British driver has outperformed his teammate at each of the past five grands prix.
The McLaren driver just pipped fellow driver and championship contender the Australian for the fastest time in the closing stages of the practice session at the Sao Paulo Grand Prix.
The British racer, who grabbed the championship lead from Piastri by just one point after his victory in Mexico City two weeks ago, beat the Melbourne-born driver by a mere 0.023s.
Earlier in the session, Oscar Piastri had been the quickest of the McLaren pair during the running before the sprint shootout due at 6:30 PM GMT.
The Red Bull star, the only other driver in the championship fight, trailing with a 36-point deficit behind Norris, finished in 17th place as his Red Bull team opted for a alternative strategy.
Verstappen's team-mate the Japanese driver was the only driver to go off, if briefly, when he rotated at Turn Four soon after starting.
The Japanese spun out over the track edges before rotating through the gravel trap, and was fortunate to avoid just a light touch of the wall.
Ferrari's the seven-time champion also spun, at the conclusion of the session, spinning around through the high-speed Mergulho corner leading to the last turn on to the start-finish straight.
The veteran ended the session in 19th place, one place behind team-mate the Monegasque driver.
The McLaren drivers were far ahead of the other competitors, with Nico Hulkenberg's Sauber in third, 0.619secs off the Australian's time.
Aston Martin's Fernando Alonso was in fourth, with Sauber's Gabriel Bortoleto fifth from the Mercedes of George Russell and Alpine's Pierre Gasly and the Williams of Carlos Sainz.
