Norris Leads Oscar Piastri in Brazilian Practice
Lando Norris has beaten his teammate at all of the past five grands prix.
Lando Norris just pipped fellow driver and title rival the Australian for the fastest time in the closing stages of practice at the Brazilian Grand Prix.
The British racer, who grabbed the championship lead from his teammate by one point after taking the win in Mexico City a fortnight back, topped the Australian by a tiny margin of 0.023secs.
Before then, Piastri had been the quickest of the McLaren pair for most of the session before sprint qualifying set to begin at the evening session.
The Red Bull star, the sole remaining contender in realistic title contention, sitting 36 points Norris, ended up in P17 as his team opted for a unique setup.
Verstappen's team-mate Yuki Tsunoda was the only driver to crash, albeit lightly, when he lost control at Turn Four during the early running.
The Japanese spun out over the track edges before rotating through the run-off area, and was blessed to escape with just a light touch of the fence.
Ferrari's the seven-time champion also lost it, at the very end of the practice, rotating twice through the fast downhill Mergulho turn approaching the final bend on to the main straight.
The seven-time champion ended the session in 19th place, just behind team-mate the Monegasque driver.
The McLaren pair were far ahead of the remaining drivers, with Nico Hulkenberg's Sauber third fastest, 0.619secs off Piastri's best.
Aston Martin's Fernando Alonso was in fourth, with the Sauber of Gabriel Bortoleto fifth from the Mercedes of Russell and Alpine's Gasly and Williams' Carlos Sainz.
