Norris Edges Out Piastri in Brazilian Practice Session
Lando Norris has outperformed Oscar Piastri at all of the previous five race weekends.
Lando Norris just pipped team-mate and title rival the Australian for the quickest lap in the dying seconds of practice at the Sao Paulo Grand Prix.
The British racer, who seized the points lead from his teammate by a single point after taking the win in Mexico City a fortnight back, topped the Melbourne-born driver by a tiny margin of 0.023secs.
Earlier in the session, Oscar Piastri had been the leading McLaren throughout the hour before the sprint shootout set to begin at the evening session.
Max Verstappen, the sole remaining contender in the points battle, lying 36 points behind Norris, ended up in P17 as his team ran a alternative strategy.
Verstappen's team-mate the Japanese driver was the only driver to have an incident, if briefly, when he lost control at the fourth corner early in the session.
The Japanese lost control over the curbs on exit before sliding over the gravel trap, and was lucky to escape with just a minor contact of the fence.
Ferrari's the seven-time champion also lost it, at the final moments of the practice, spinning around through the quick descending corner before the final corner on to the start-finish straight.
Hamilton wrapped up in 19th, trailing teammate Charles Leclerc.
The McLaren drivers were far ahead of the other competitors, with Nico Hulkenberg's Sauber in third, over half a second behind Piastri's pace.
Aston Martin's the Spanish driver was fourth quickest, with Sauber's Gabriel Bortoleto fifth from Mercedes' Russell and Alpine's Gasly and the Williams of Carlos Sainz.
