Lando Norris Edges Out Oscar Piastri in Sao Paulo Practice Session
The British driver has beaten his teammate at each of the previous five grands prix.
The McLaren driver just pipped team-mate and championship contender Oscar Piastri for the fastest time in the final moments of practice at the Brazilian Grand Prix.
The British racer, who took the title advantage from his teammate by just one point after taking the win in Mexico City two weeks ago, beat the Melbourne-born driver by a mere 0.023s.
Before then, Oscar Piastri had been the quickest of the McLaren pair during the running before the sprint shootout set to begin at 18:30 GMT.
The Red Bull star, the sole remaining contender in realistic title contention, lying 36 points Norris, was classified in P17 as his team opted for a alternative strategy.
Verstappen's team-mate Yuki Tsunoda was the only driver to have an incident, if briefly, when he rotated at corner four soon after starting.
The Japanese slid over the curbs on exit before rotating through the escape zone, and was lucky to avoid just a minor contact of the barrier.
Ferrari's the seven-time champion also spun, at the conclusion of the practice, rotating twice through the quick descending Mergulho corner leading to the final corner on to the main straight.
The veteran wrapped up in P19, just behind teammate the Monegasque driver.
The McLaren drivers were significantly quicker of the rest of the field, with the German's car P3, over half a second slower than Piastri's best.
Aston Martin's the Spanish driver was fourth fastest, with Sauber's Bortoleto in front of Mercedes' George Russell and the Alpine of Pierre Gasly and Williams' Carlos Sainz.
