Lando Norris has outperformed his teammate at all of the past five grands prix.
Lando Norris just pipped fellow driver and championship contender Oscar Piastri for the fastest time in the dying seconds of the practice session at the Brazilian Grand Prix.
Norris, who took the title advantage from his teammate by one point after his victory in the Mexican Grand Prix two weeks ago, beat the Melbourne-born driver by a mere 0.023s.
Earlier in the session, Oscar Piastri had been the quickest of the McLaren pair for most of the session before the sprint shootout set to begin at 6:30 PM GMT.
The Red Bull star, the sole remaining contender in the championship fight, sitting 36 points behind Norris, was classified in 17th position as his team followed a unique setup.
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 slid over the exit kerbs before sliding over the escape zone, and was fortunate to get away with just a minor contact of the wall.
Ferrari's the seven-time champion also had a spin, at the conclusion of the practice, rotating twice through the fast downhill Mergulho corner leading to the final corner on to the pit straight.
Hamilton ended the session in 19th, trailing teammate Charles Leclerc.
The McLaren pair were well clear of the remaining drivers, with the German's Sauber in third, over half a second off the Australian's time.
The Aston Martin of Fernando Alonso was in fourth, with the Sauber of Bortoleto in front of Mercedes' Russell and the Alpine of Gasly and the Williams of Sainz.
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