Lando Norris Tops Piastri in Brazilian Practice
Lando Norris has outperformed Oscar Piastri at all of the previous five grands prix.
The McLaren driver edged out fellow driver and title rival Oscar Piastri for the quickest lap in the final moments of the practice session at the Brazilian Grand Prix.
The British racer, who took the championship lead from his teammate by just one point after winning in the Mexican Grand Prix a fortnight back, topped the Australian by 0.023 seconds.
Before then, Oscar Piastri had been the leading McLaren for most of the session before the sprint shootout due at 6:30 PM GMT.
The Red Bull star, the only other driver in the championship fight, trailing 36 points Norris, finished in P17 as his team ran a different programme.
Verstappen's team-mate Yuki Tsunoda was the sole competitor to crash, though minor, when he lost control at Turn Four during the early running.
Tsunoda spun out over the track edges before rotating through the escape zone, and was fortunate to avoid just a light touch of the fence.
Ferrari's Lewis Hamilton also lost it, at the very end of the practice, spinning around through the fast downhill corner approaching the final corner on to the start-finish straight.
The veteran finished practice in P19, trailing team-mate Charles Leclerc.
Norris and Piastri were well clear of the remaining drivers, with the German's Sauber P3, over half a second behind Piastri's best.
Aston Martin's the Spanish driver was fourth quickest, with the Sauber of Gabriel Bortoleto in front of Mercedes' George Russell and the Alpine of Gasly and Williams' Sainz.
