Norris Leads Piastri in Brazilian Practice
Lando Norris has outperformed his teammate at each of the last five race weekends.
Lando Norris just pipped fellow driver and championship contender Oscar Piastri for the quickest lap in the dying seconds of the practice session at the Sao Paulo Grand Prix.
Norris, who seized the title advantage from his teammate by a single point after his victory in the Mexican Grand Prix a fortnight back, beat the Melbourne-born driver by 0.023 seconds.
Before then, Piastri had been the fastest McLaren driver throughout the hour before the sprint shootout due at 18:30 GMT.
Max Verstappen, the sole remaining contender in the championship fight, lying with a 36-point deficit Norris, was classified in 17th position as his team followed a unique setup.
Verstappen's team-mate Yuki Tsunoda was the sole competitor to have an incident, though minor, when he spun at the fourth corner soon after starting.
The Japanese slid over the exit kerbs before spinning across the run-off area, and was fortunate to get away with just a slight brush of the fence.
The Ferrari of the seven-time champion also had a spin, at the very end of the session, turning around through the high-speed Mergulho corner approaching the final corner on to the start-finish straight.
Hamilton ended the session in P19, trailing teammate the Monegasque driver.
The McLaren pair were well clear of the remaining drivers, with the German's Sauber P3, 0.619 seconds behind Piastri's pace.
The Aston Martin of the Spanish driver was in fourth, with Sauber's Gabriel Bortoleto in front of the Mercedes of George Russell and the Alpine of Gasly and the Williams of Sainz.
