Lando Norris Tops Oscar Piastri in Brazilian Practice
The British driver has outscored his teammate at all of the past five grands prix.
The McLaren driver narrowly beat fellow driver and title rival the Australian for the fastest time in the final moments of the practice session at the Sao Paulo Grand Prix.
Norris, who seized the championship lead from Piastri by just one point after his victory in the Mexican Grand Prix a fortnight back, outpaced the Australian by a mere 0.023s.
Earlier in the session, Piastri had been the fastest McLaren driver during the running before sprint qualifying scheduled for 6:30 PM GMT.
Max Verstappen, the sole remaining contender in the championship fight, sitting with a 36-point deficit Norris, ended up in P17 as his team opted for a unique setup.
His teammate Yuki Tsunoda was the only driver to go off, albeit lightly, when he spun at corner four early in the session.
The Japanese spun out over the track edges before rotating through the escape zone, and was lucky to escape with just a minor contact of the wall.
The Ferrari of the seven-time champion also had a spin, at the very end of the practice, spinning around through the fast downhill corner leading to the final bend on to the pit straight.
Hamilton wrapped up in 19th place, one place behind team-mate the Monegasque driver.
The McLaren drivers were far ahead of the other competitors, with Nico Hulkenberg's Sauber P3, 0.619secs off Piastri's best.
Aston Martin's Fernando Alonso was fourth fastest, with the Sauber of Bortoleto ahead of the Mercedes of Russell and the Alpine of Gasly and Williams' Sainz.
