Norris Edges Out Oscar Piastri in Sao Paulo Practice
Lando Norris has outperformed his teammate at each of the previous five race weekends.
Lando Norris edged out fellow driver and championship contender the Australian for the quickest lap in the dying seconds of practice at the Brazilian Grand Prix.
Norris, who took the points lead from Piastri by a single point after winning in the Mexican Grand Prix a fortnight back, beat the Melbourne-born driver by a tiny margin of 0.023secs.
Earlier in the session, Oscar Piastri had been the leading McLaren for most of the session before sprint qualifying due at 18:30 GMT.
The Red Bull star, the only other driver in the points battle, lying 36 points behind Norris, ended up in 17th position as his Red Bull team opted for a alternative strategy.
Verstappen's team-mate Yuki Tsunoda was the sole competitor to go off, if briefly, when he rotated at Turn Four during the early running.
Tsunoda spun out over the curbs on exit before spinning across the run-off area, and was blessed to avoid just a minor contact of the barrier.
Ferrari's Lewis Hamilton also had a spin, at the conclusion of the practice, spinning around through the fast downhill corner leading to the last turn on to the pit straight.
The seven-time champion ended the session in 19th place, trailing team-mate Charles Leclerc.
Norris and Piastri were far ahead of the remaining drivers, with the German's Sauber in third, over half a second off Piastri's pace.
Aston Martin's Fernando Alonso was in fourth, with Sauber's Bortoleto ahead of Mercedes' George Russell and the Alpine of Pierre Gasly and the Williams of Sainz.