Norris Leads Piastri in Sao Paulo Practice
The British driver has beaten his teammate at all of the past five race weekends.
The McLaren driver narrowly beat fellow driver and title rival Oscar Piastri for the quickest lap in the dying seconds of practice at the Brazilian Grand Prix.
The British racer, who took the title advantage from his teammate by a single point after taking the win in Mexico City two weeks ago, topped the Australian by a tiny margin of 0.023secs.
Before then, Oscar Piastri had been the quickest of the McLaren pair for most of the session before sprint qualifying scheduled for 18:30 GMT.
The Red Bull star, the sole remaining contender in the championship fight, sitting with a 36-point deficit Norris, ended up in 17th position as his team followed a unique setup.
Verstappen's team-mate Yuki Tsunoda was the only driver to go off, if briefly, when he spun at Turn Four early in the session.
Tsunoda lost control over the exit kerbs before rotating through the escape zone, and was blessed to escape with just a light touch of the barrier.
The Ferrari of the seven-time champion also had a spin, at the final moments of the practice, rotating twice through the quick descending Mergulho turn approaching the last turn on to the pit straight.
The veteran finished practice in 19th place, just behind team-mate the Monegasque driver.
The McLaren drivers were far ahead of the other competitors, with Nico Hulkenberg's Sauber in third, 0.619 seconds off Piastri's pace.
Aston Martin's Fernando Alonso was in fourth, with the Sauber of Gabriel Bortoleto in front of Mercedes' George Russell and Alpine's Gasly and the Williams of Sainz.
