Lando Norris Leads Piastri in Sao Paulo Practice Session
The British driver has outscored Oscar Piastri at all of the previous five grands prix.
Lando Norris just pipped fellow driver and championship contender the Australian for the top spot in the final moments of the practice session at the Sao Paulo Grand Prix.
Norris, who took the championship lead from his teammate by one point after taking the win in Mexico City two weeks ago, beat the Melbourne-born driver by a mere 0.023s.
Earlier in the session, Oscar Piastri had been the fastest McLaren driver during the running before sprint qualifying set to begin at 18:30 GMT.
The Red Bull star, the sole remaining contender in realistic title contention, trailing 36 points behind Norris, finished in 17th place as his team ran a alternative strategy.
Verstappen's team-mate the Japanese driver was the only driver to go off, if briefly, when he rotated at Turn Four during the early running.
The Japanese spun out over the exit kerbs before sliding over the escape zone, and was fortunate to avoid just a minor contact of the barrier.
Ferrari's the seven-time champion also had a spin, at the conclusion of the session, turning around through the fast downhill Mergulho corner approaching the last turn on to the start-finish straight.
The seven-time champion finished practice in 19th place, trailing team-mate the Monegasque driver.
Norris and Piastri were significantly quicker of the rest of the field, with the German's Sauber third fastest, over half a second off Piastri's pace.
The Aston Martin of the Spanish driver was fourth quickest, with Sauber's Gabriel Bortoleto fifth from the Mercedes of George Russell and Alpine's Gasly and Williams' Sainz.