Norris Tops Piastri in Sao Paulo Practice
Lando Norris has beaten Oscar Piastri at each of the previous five race weekends.
Lando Norris narrowly beat fellow driver and title rival the Australian for the top spot in the dying seconds of the practice session at the Sao Paulo Grand Prix.
The British racer, who seized the title advantage from his teammate by one point after taking the win in Mexico City two weeks ago, beat the Australian by 0.023 seconds.
Before then, Oscar Piastri had been the quickest of the McLaren pair for most of the session before the sprint shootout set to begin at the evening session.
The Red Bull star, the only other driver in realistic title contention, sitting 36 points behind behind Norris, finished in 17th place as his team opted for a unique setup.
Verstappen's team-mate Yuki Tsunoda was the only driver to have an incident, though minor, when he spun at the fourth corner during the early running.
The Japanese spun out over the track edges before rotating through the gravel trap, and was blessed to get away with just a slight brush of the barrier.
The Ferrari of the seven-time champion also lost it, at the final moments of the practice, turning around through the fast downhill corner approaching the final corner on to the start-finish straight.
Hamilton finished practice in P19, trailing teammate Charles Leclerc.
The McLaren pair were significantly quicker of the rest of the field, with Nico Hulkenberg's car third fastest, 0.619secs slower than the Australian's time.
The Aston Martin of the Spanish driver was in fourth, with Sauber's Bortoleto ahead of the Mercedes of George Russell and the Alpine of Gasly and Williams' Sainz.
