Norris Tops Piastri in Brazilian Practice
The British driver has outscored his teammate at all of the previous five race weekends.
Lando Norris just pipped team-mate and championship contender Oscar Piastri for the fastest time in the final moments of the practice session at the Sao Paulo Grand Prix.
The British racer, who seized the points lead from his teammate by just one point after taking the win in Mexico City recently, topped the Melbourne-born driver by a tiny margin of 0.023secs.
Until that point, Piastri had been the quickest of the McLaren pair throughout the hour before the sprint shootout due at 18:30 GMT.
Max Verstappen, the sole remaining contender in realistic title contention, trailing with a 36-point deficit behind Norris, ended up in 17th place as his Red Bull team opted for a unique setup.
His teammate Yuki Tsunoda was the sole competitor to have an incident, though minor, when he lost control at corner four soon after starting.
The Japanese spun out over the track edges before sliding over the escape zone, and was fortunate to avoid just a light touch of the barrier.
The Ferrari of the seven-time champion also spun, at the final moments of the session, rotating twice through the fast downhill corner approaching the final bend on to the pit straight.
Hamilton finished practice in 19th place, one place behind team-mate the Monegasque driver.
The McLaren pair were well clear of the other competitors, with the German's Sauber third fastest, 0.619 seconds off Piastri's best.
The Aston Martin of Fernando Alonso was in fourth, with the Sauber of Gabriel Bortoleto in front of the Mercedes of Russell and the Alpine of Pierre Gasly and Williams' Carlos Sainz.
