Norris Leads Oscar Piastri in Sao Paulo Practice Session
The British driver has outscored his teammate at each of the previous five race weekends.
Lando Norris just pipped team-mate and title rival Oscar Piastri for the fastest time in the dying seconds of the practice session at the Sao Paulo Grand Prix.
Norris, who took the championship lead from his teammate by one point after winning in Mexico City two weeks ago, topped the Australian by a mere 0.023s.
Earlier in the session, Oscar Piastri had been the leading McLaren for most of the session before the sprint shootout scheduled for the evening session.
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 ran a different programme.
Verstappen's team-mate Yuki Tsunoda was the sole competitor to go off, though minor, when he spun at corner four soon after starting.
Tsunoda slid over the exit kerbs before spinning across the escape zone, and was lucky to avoid just a slight brush of the fence.
Ferrari's the seven-time champion also spun, at the very end of the session, spinning around through the fast downhill Mergulho corner approaching the last turn on to the pit straight.
The veteran ended the session in 19th place, one place behind teammate Charles Leclerc.
Norris and Piastri were well clear of the rest of the field, with Nico Hulkenberg's Sauber third fastest, 0.619 seconds slower than the Australian's time.
Aston Martin's Fernando Alonso was fourth fastest, with Sauber's Gabriel Bortoleto fifth from Mercedes' George Russell and Alpine's Gasly and the Williams of Carlos Sainz.
