Norris Edges Out Piastri in Brazilian Practice
Lando Norris has outperformed his teammate at each of the past five race weekends.
The McLaren driver just pipped team-mate and title rival Oscar Piastri for the top spot in the final moments of practice at the Brazilian Grand Prix.
The British racer, who seized the championship lead from his teammate by just one point after taking the win in the Mexican Grand Prix two weeks ago, beat the Australian by a mere 0.023s.
Earlier in the session, Piastri had been the quickest of the McLaren pair during the running before sprint qualifying set to begin at 6:30 PM GMT.
The Red Bull star, the sole remaining contender in realistic title contention, sitting 36 points behind behind Norris, was classified in 17th position as his Red Bull team followed a unique setup.
Verstappen's team-mate the Japanese driver was the only driver to have an incident, albeit lightly, when he spun at the fourth corner soon after starting.
The Japanese spun out over the track edges before sliding over the escape zone, and was fortunate to avoid just a light touch of the fence.
Ferrari's the seven-time champion also spun, at the very end of the session, turning around through the fast downhill Mergulho corner before the final corner on to the main straight.
Hamilton ended the session in 19th, trailing teammate the Monegasque driver.
Norris and Piastri were significantly quicker of the other competitors, with Nico Hulkenberg's car in third, 0.619 seconds slower than Piastri's best.
Aston Martin's the Spanish driver was fourth fastest, with the Sauber of Bortoleto ahead of Mercedes' Russell and Alpine's Pierre Gasly and the Williams of Sainz.
