Norris Leads Piastri in Brazilian Practice
Lando Norris has outperformed his teammate at each of the last five grands prix.
Lando Norris narrowly beat fellow driver and title rival Oscar Piastri for the top spot in the dying seconds of practice at the Brazilian Grand Prix.
Norris, who grabbed the championship lead from his teammate by just one point after winning in the Mexican Grand Prix two weeks ago, topped the Australian by 0.023 seconds.
Earlier in the session, Piastri had been the fastest McLaren driver for most of the session before the sprint shootout scheduled for the evening session.
The Red Bull star, the only other driver in realistic title contention, trailing 36 points Norris, ended up in 17th position as his Red Bull team ran a unique setup.
Verstappen's team-mate the Japanese driver was the only driver to crash, if briefly, when he spun at the fourth corner soon after starting.
The Japanese lost control over the curbs on exit before spinning across the run-off area, and was fortunate to avoid just a slight brush of the wall.
The Ferrari of Lewis Hamilton also had a spin, at the very end of the practice, turning around through the quick descending corner leading to the final corner on to the start-finish straight.
The seven-time champion wrapped up in 19th, trailing teammate Charles Leclerc.
Norris and Piastri were far ahead of the remaining drivers, with Nico Hulkenberg's Sauber third fastest, 0.619 seconds slower than the Australian's time.
Aston Martin's Fernando Alonso was fourth fastest, with Sauber's Gabriel Bortoleto ahead of Mercedes' George Russell and the Alpine of Pierre Gasly and the Williams of Carlos Sainz.
