Lando Norris Edges Out Oscar Piastri in Sao Paulo Practice Session
The British driver has outscored his teammate at all of the last five grands prix.
The McLaren driver edged out team-mate and championship contender the Australian for the top spot in the final moments of the practice session at the Brazilian Grand Prix.
The British racer, who took the title advantage from his teammate by a single point after his victory in Mexico City two weeks ago, topped the Australian by 0.023 seconds.
Earlier in the session, Oscar Piastri had been the quickest of the McLaren pair during the running before sprint qualifying set to begin at 18:30 GMT.
The Red Bull star, the sole remaining contender in the points battle, trailing with a 36-point deficit behind Norris, was classified in 17th position as his Red Bull team followed a different programme.
Verstappen's team-mate Yuki Tsunoda was the sole competitor to have an incident, if briefly, when he spun at Turn Four during the early running.
Tsunoda spun out over the exit kerbs before spinning across the run-off area, and was blessed to escape with just a slight brush of the wall.
The Ferrari of Lewis Hamilton also lost it, at the conclusion of the practice, spinning around through the quick descending corner leading to the final bend on to the start-finish straight.
The veteran ended the session in 19th, just behind team-mate the Monegasque driver.
The McLaren pair were well clear of the remaining drivers, with Nico Hulkenberg's Sauber P3, 0.619secs behind the Australian's time.
The Aston Martin of Fernando Alonso was fourth fastest, with Sauber's Bortoleto fifth from Mercedes' Russell and Alpine's Gasly and Williams' Sainz.
