Lando Norris Edges Out Piastri in Brazilian Practice Session
The British driver has outperformed Oscar Piastri at all of the past five race weekends.
Lando Norris edged out team-mate and championship contender the Australian for the fastest time in the dying seconds of practice at the Brazilian Grand Prix.
The British racer, who took the title advantage from Piastri by one point after his victory in Mexico City a fortnight back, topped the Australian by a tiny margin of 0.023secs.
Until that point, Piastri had been the leading McLaren during the running before sprint qualifying scheduled for 18:30 GMT.
The Red Bull star, the only other driver in the points battle, lying with a 36-point deficit Norris, ended up in P17 as his Red Bull team ran a unique setup.
Verstappen's team-mate Yuki Tsunoda was the sole competitor to crash, albeit lightly, when he lost control at corner four soon after starting.
The Japanese spun out over the exit kerbs before spinning across the run-off area, and was fortunate to avoid just a slight brush of the fence.
The Ferrari of Lewis Hamilton also lost it, at the final moments of the session, turning around through the quick descending Mergulho corner before the final corner on to the main straight.
The seven-time champion wrapped up in P19, trailing team-mate Charles Leclerc.
Norris and Piastri were well clear of the remaining drivers, with the German's car P3, 0.619secs behind Piastri's best.
The Aston Martin of the Spanish driver was fourth quickest, with the Sauber of Gabriel Bortoleto ahead of Mercedes' Russell and Alpine's Pierre Gasly and the Williams of Sainz.
