Lando Norris Leads Oscar Piastri in Sao Paulo Practice
The British driver has beaten Oscar Piastri at each of the previous five grands prix.
Lando Norris just pipped fellow driver and title rival the Australian for the top spot in the final moments of practice at the Brazilian Grand Prix.
Norris, who grabbed the championship lead from his teammate by a single point after winning in Mexico City two weeks ago, topped the Australian by 0.023 seconds.
Earlier in the session, Piastri had been the leading McLaren throughout the hour before sprint qualifying set to begin at 18:30 GMT.
The Red Bull star, the other racer in the championship fight, sitting with a 36-point deficit Norris, was classified in 17th place as his Red Bull team opted for a unique setup.
Verstappen's team-mate Yuki Tsunoda was the only driver to crash, if briefly, when he rotated at corner four soon after starting.
Tsunoda lost control over the curbs on exit before rotating through the gravel trap, and was fortunate to get away with just a minor contact of the fence.
Ferrari's the seven-time champion also spun, at the final moments of the session, spinning around through the high-speed corner before the last turn on to the main straight.
The seven-time champion wrapped up in 19th, one place behind team-mate the Monegasque driver.
The McLaren pair were significantly quicker of the remaining drivers, with Nico Hulkenberg's car in third, 0.619 seconds behind the Australian's time.
The Aston Martin of Fernando Alonso was fourth quickest, with Sauber's Gabriel Bortoleto in front of Mercedes' Russell and Alpine's Gasly and the Williams of Sainz.
