Norris Tops Oscar Piastri in Brazilian Practice
The British driver has beaten his teammate at all of the previous five grands prix.
The McLaren driver edged out fellow driver and title rival the Australian for the quickest lap in the closing stages of the practice session at the Sao Paulo Grand Prix.
Norris, who grabbed the title advantage from his teammate by one point after winning in the Mexican Grand Prix two weeks ago, beat the Australian by a mere 0.023s.
Before then, Piastri had been the quickest of the McLaren pair for most of the session before sprint qualifying due at the evening session.
The Red Bull star, the only other driver in the championship fight, sitting with a 36-point deficit Norris, finished in P17 as his team ran a different programme.
Verstappen's team-mate Yuki Tsunoda was the only driver to crash, if briefly, when he rotated at the fourth corner early in the session.
Tsunoda slid over the curbs on exit before rotating through the escape zone, and was blessed to get away with just a slight brush of the wall.
The Ferrari of the seven-time champion also lost it, at the conclusion of the practice, rotating twice through the high-speed Mergulho turn before the final corner on to the main straight.
The seven-time champion wrapped up in 19th place, just behind teammate the Monegasque driver.
Norris and Piastri were far ahead of the other competitors, with Nico Hulkenberg's Sauber P3, 0.619 seconds behind Piastri's pace.
The Aston Martin of Fernando Alonso was in fourth, with the Sauber of Bortoleto ahead of the Mercedes of George Russell and the Alpine of Gasly and the Williams of Carlos Sainz.
