Norris Edges Out Piastri in Brazilian Practice
The British driver has beaten Oscar Piastri at all of the previous five grands prix.
The McLaren driver just pipped fellow driver and championship contender the Australian for the top spot in the final moments of practice at the Brazilian Grand Prix.
Norris, who grabbed the title advantage from Piastri by just one point after his victory in Mexico City two weeks ago, outpaced the Melbourne-born driver by a tiny margin of 0.023secs.
Until that point, Oscar Piastri had been the fastest McLaren driver for most of the session before sprint qualifying set to begin at the evening session.
The Red Bull star, the only other driver in the points battle, sitting with a 36-point deficit Norris, ended up in P17 as his Red Bull team followed a unique setup.
Verstappen's team-mate Yuki Tsunoda was the only driver to go off, though minor, when he rotated at the fourth corner early in the session.
The Japanese spun out over the exit kerbs before rotating through the escape zone, and was fortunate to avoid just a minor contact of the barrier.
The Ferrari of Lewis Hamilton also had a spin, at the conclusion of the practice, rotating twice through the fast downhill Mergulho turn approaching the last turn on to the pit straight.
The veteran wrapped up in 19th place, just behind team-mate Charles Leclerc.
The McLaren drivers were well clear of the other competitors, with Nico Hulkenberg's car P3, over half a second off the Australian's time.
Aston Martin's the Spanish driver was fourth fastest, with the Sauber of Bortoleto in front of Mercedes' George Russell and Alpine's Gasly and the Williams of Carlos Sainz.
