The British driver has beaten his teammate at each of the previous five race weekends.
Lando Norris edged out team-mate and title rival the Australian for the top spot in the closing stages of practice at the Sao Paulo Grand Prix.
Norris, who grabbed the title advantage from his teammate by a single point after his victory in Mexico City a fortnight back, outpaced the Australian by a tiny margin of 0.023secs.
Before then, Oscar Piastri had been the leading McLaren during the running before sprint qualifying set to begin at 18:30 GMT.
The Red Bull star, the sole remaining contender in the championship fight, trailing with a 36-point deficit Norris, ended up in 17th position as his Red Bull team followed a different programme.
Verstappen's team-mate Yuki Tsunoda was the sole competitor to have an incident, though minor, when he rotated at Turn Four during the early running.
The Japanese spun out over the exit kerbs before sliding over the gravel trap, and was fortunate to escape with just a light touch of the wall.
Ferrari's Lewis Hamilton also lost it, at the very end of the practice, turning around through the quick descending Mergulho turn leading to the last turn on to the pit straight.
The seven-time champion ended the session in P19, one place behind teammate the Monegasque driver.
The McLaren drivers were well clear of the remaining drivers, with Nico Hulkenberg's Sauber third fastest, over half a second slower than the Australian's time.
Aston Martin's Fernando Alonso was fourth quickest, with Sauber's Gabriel Bortoleto fifth from Mercedes' Russell and Alpine's Pierre Gasly and Williams' Carlos Sainz.
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