Norris Leads Oscar Piastri in Sao Paulo Practice
The British driver has outscored Oscar Piastri at each of the past five grands prix.
Lando Norris narrowly beat 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.
The British racer, who seized the points lead from his teammate by one point after winning in the Mexican Grand Prix two weeks ago, outpaced the Melbourne-born driver by a mere 0.023s.
Until that point, Oscar Piastri had been the quickest of the McLaren pair during the running before the sprint shootout due at 18:30 GMT.
The Red Bull star, the sole remaining contender in the points battle, trailing with a 36-point deficit Norris, ended up in 17th place as his Red Bull team ran a alternative strategy.
Verstappen's team-mate the Japanese driver was the only driver to crash, albeit lightly, when he lost control at the fourth corner during the early running.
The Japanese slid over the exit kerbs before sliding over the run-off area, and was fortunate to escape with just a minor contact of the barrier.
The Ferrari of the seven-time champion also spun, at the conclusion of the session, rotating twice through the fast downhill Mergulho corner leading to the final corner on to the start-finish straight.
Hamilton finished practice in 19th place, trailing team-mate the Monegasque driver.
Norris and Piastri were significantly quicker of the rest of the field, with Nico Hulkenberg's car in third, over half a second behind the Australian's time.
The Aston Martin of the Spanish driver was fourth fastest, with Sauber's Gabriel Bortoleto in front of the Mercedes of Russell and the Alpine of Gasly and the Williams of Sainz.
