Norris Leads Oscar Piastri in Brazilian Practice Session
The British driver has outperformed his teammate at each of the last five race weekends.
The McLaren driver edged out team-mate and championship contender Oscar Piastri for the top spot in the dying seconds of the practice session at the Brazilian Grand Prix.
The British racer, who seized the title advantage from his teammate by one point after taking the win in Mexico City a fortnight back, beat the Melbourne-born driver by 0.023 seconds.
Before then, Oscar Piastri had been the leading McLaren for most of the session before sprint qualifying set to begin at the evening session.
The Red Bull star, the sole remaining contender in the championship fight, lying 36 points behind Norris, finished in 17th position as his Red Bull team opted for a different programme.
Verstappen's team-mate the Japanese driver was the only driver to have an incident, though minor, when he rotated at Turn Four during the early running.
The Japanese lost control over the exit kerbs before rotating through the escape zone, and was fortunate to avoid just a slight brush of the fence.
The Ferrari of the seven-time champion also lost it, at the very end of the practice, rotating twice through the quick descending corner before the final bend on to the main straight.
Hamilton ended the session in P19, one place behind teammate Charles Leclerc.
Norris and Piastri were well clear of the rest of the field, with the German's car in third, 0.619 seconds slower than Piastri's best.
The Aston Martin of the Spanish driver was fourth fastest, with Sauber's Bortoleto in front of Mercedes' George Russell and the Alpine of Gasly and Williams' Sainz.
