Norris Edges Out Oscar Piastri in Sao Paulo Practice Session
The British driver has beaten his teammate at all of the last five race weekends.
The McLaren driver narrowly beat team-mate and championship contender Oscar Piastri for the top spot in the closing stages of the practice session at the Sao Paulo Grand Prix.
The British racer, who grabbed the points lead from Piastri by a single point after his victory in the Mexican Grand Prix a fortnight back, outpaced the Australian by a tiny margin of 0.023secs.
Until that point, Oscar Piastri had been the leading McLaren for most of the session before sprint qualifying scheduled for 6:30 PM GMT.
The Red Bull star, the sole remaining contender in the points battle, lying 36 points behind Norris, was classified in 17th position as his team ran a different programme.
Verstappen's team-mate the Japanese driver was the sole competitor to crash, though minor, when he rotated at corner four during the early running.
The Japanese spun out over the curbs on exit before sliding over the run-off area, and was fortunate to escape with just a minor contact of the wall.
The Ferrari of the seven-time champion also spun, at the conclusion of the session, spinning around through the high-speed Mergulho turn before the last turn on to the main straight.
The seven-time champion finished practice in 19th, trailing team-mate the Monegasque driver.
The McLaren drivers were well clear of the other competitors, with the German's Sauber third fastest, over half a second behind the Australian's time.
Aston Martin's the Spanish driver was fourth fastest, with the Sauber of Gabriel Bortoleto fifth from Mercedes' Russell and Alpine's Gasly and the Williams of Carlos Sainz.
