Norris Tops Piastri in Brazilian Practice Session
The British driver has beaten his teammate at all of the last five grands prix.
The McLaren driver edged out team-mate and championship contender Oscar Piastri for the fastest time in the final moments of the practice session at the Brazilian Grand Prix.
The British racer, who took the championship lead from his teammate by a single point after winning in Mexico City a fortnight back, beat the Melbourne-born driver by 0.023 seconds.
Before then, Piastri had been the quickest of the McLaren pair throughout the hour before the sprint shootout scheduled for the evening session.
The Red Bull star, the sole remaining contender in realistic title contention, trailing with a 36-point deficit behind Norris, finished in 17th position as his Red Bull team ran a unique setup.
Verstappen's team-mate Yuki Tsunoda was the sole competitor to go off, though minor, when he lost control at Turn Four during the early running.
Tsunoda lost control over the track edges before rotating through the escape zone, and was fortunate to escape with just a slight brush of the barrier.
Ferrari's the seven-time champion also lost it, at the final moments of the session, turning around through the quick descending corner leading to the final corner on to the pit straight.
The seven-time champion ended the session in 19th, trailing teammate the Monegasque driver.
Norris and Piastri were well clear of the other competitors, with Nico Hulkenberg's Sauber third fastest, 0.619secs off Piastri's best.
Aston Martin's Fernando Alonso was in fourth, with Sauber's Gabriel Bortoleto fifth from Mercedes' George Russell and Alpine's Pierre Gasly and the Williams of Carlos Sainz.
