Lando Norris Leads Oscar Piastri in Brazilian Practice
The British driver has beaten his teammate at each of the previous five race weekends.
Lando Norris just pipped fellow driver and championship contender Oscar Piastri for the top spot in the dying seconds of practice at the Sao Paulo Grand Prix.
Norris, who took the title advantage from his teammate by just one point after taking the win in Mexico City a fortnight back, topped the Melbourne-born driver by a mere 0.023s.
Earlier in the session, Piastri had been the fastest McLaren driver during the running before the sprint shootout set to begin at the evening session.
Max Verstappen, the sole remaining contender in the championship fight, lying with a 36-point deficit Norris, was classified in 17th place as his team ran a alternative strategy.
Verstappen's team-mate the Japanese driver was the only driver to crash, if briefly, when he spun at Turn Four during the early running.
The Japanese lost control over the curbs on exit before rotating through the gravel trap, and was blessed to get away with just a minor contact of the wall.
The Ferrari of the seven-time champion also lost it, at the final moments of the session, rotating twice through the high-speed corner leading to the final bend on to the pit straight.
Hamilton wrapped up in 19th, one place behind team-mate the Monegasque driver.
Norris and Piastri were significantly quicker of the other competitors, with Nico Hulkenberg's Sauber third fastest, over half a second behind Piastri's pace.
The Aston Martin of Fernando Alonso was fourth fastest, with Sauber's Bortoleto fifth from Mercedes' Russell and Alpine's Pierre Gasly and the Williams of Carlos Sainz.
