Lando Norris Edges Out Oscar Piastri in Brazilian Practice
Lando Norris has beaten Oscar Piastri at all of the last five race weekends.
The McLaren driver edged out team-mate and title rival Oscar Piastri for the quickest lap in the final moments of practice at the Brazilian Grand Prix.
The British racer, who grabbed the title advantage from his teammate by one point after his victory in Mexico City recently, topped the Australian by 0.023 seconds.
Before then, Oscar Piastri had been the quickest of the McLaren pair throughout the hour before the sprint shootout set to begin at the evening session.
The Red Bull star, the sole remaining contender in realistic title contention, trailing with a 36-point deficit behind Norris, was classified in 17th position as his team opted for a different programme.
Verstappen's team-mate Yuki Tsunoda was the sole competitor to go off, if briefly, when he lost control at corner four early in the session.
The Japanese lost control over the curbs on exit before rotating through the escape zone, and was blessed to escape with just a light touch of the wall.
Ferrari's the seven-time champion also had a spin, at the very end of the practice, turning around through the fast downhill corner approaching the final corner on to the start-finish straight.
The veteran ended the session in 19th place, just behind teammate the Monegasque driver.
Norris and Piastri were far ahead of the rest of the field, with the German's Sauber P3, 0.619secs behind Piastri's best.
The Aston Martin of Fernando Alonso was in fourth, with the Sauber of Gabriel Bortoleto ahead of the Mercedes of George Russell and Alpine's Pierre Gasly and Williams' Sainz.
