Norris Edges Out Piastri in Sao Paulo Practice
The British driver has outscored Oscar Piastri at all of the last five grands prix.
Lando Norris narrowly beat team-mate and championship contender the Australian for the fastest time in the dying seconds of practice at the Brazilian Grand Prix.
Norris, who took the championship lead from his teammate by one point after taking the win in Mexico City two weeks ago, outpaced the Australian by a mere 0.023s.
Earlier in the session, Piastri had been the fastest McLaren driver for most of the session before the sprint shootout scheduled for 18:30 GMT.
The Red Bull star, the only other driver in the points battle, sitting 36 points behind behind Norris, finished in 17th position as his team ran a alternative strategy.
Verstappen's team-mate Yuki Tsunoda was the sole competitor to have an incident, albeit lightly, when he lost control at the fourth corner soon after starting.
The Japanese lost control over the exit kerbs before sliding over the gravel trap, and was blessed to avoid just a minor contact of the fence.
Ferrari's the seven-time champion also had a spin, at the very end of the session, spinning around through the quick descending Mergulho turn leading to the final bend on to the main straight.
Hamilton finished practice in 19th place, one place behind teammate Charles Leclerc.
The McLaren drivers were far ahead of the other competitors, with the German's car third fastest, over half a second behind Piastri's pace.
The Aston Martin of Fernando Alonso was in fourth, with the Sauber of Gabriel Bortoleto in front of the Mercedes of Russell and Alpine's Gasly and Williams' Carlos Sainz.
