Norris Leads Piastri in Sao Paulo Practice
The British driver has outperformed his teammate at all of the last five grands prix.
Lando Norris edged out team-mate and title rival Oscar Piastri for the quickest lap in the dying seconds of practice at the Brazilian Grand Prix.
The British racer, who grabbed the championship lead from his teammate by just one point after his victory in Mexico City a fortnight back, beat the Australian by a mere 0.023s.
Before then, Piastri had been the quickest of the McLaren pair during the running before sprint qualifying scheduled for 6:30 PM GMT.
Max Verstappen, the only other driver in the championship fight, trailing 36 points behind Norris, ended up in 17th place as his Red Bull team followed a alternative strategy.
His teammate Yuki Tsunoda was the sole competitor to crash, if briefly, when he rotated at corner four during the early running.
Tsunoda lost control over the exit kerbs before spinning across the escape zone, and was lucky to escape with just a slight brush of the barrier.
Ferrari's the seven-time champion also lost it, at the conclusion of the session, rotating twice through the fast downhill Mergulho turn before the final bend on to the pit straight.
Hamilton ended the session in 19th, one place behind teammate the Monegasque driver.
The McLaren drivers were well clear of the other competitors, with Nico Hulkenberg's Sauber in third, 0.619 seconds behind Piastri's best.
The Aston Martin of the Spanish driver was fourth fastest, with the Sauber of Bortoleto in front of Mercedes' Russell and Alpine's Gasly and Williams' Sainz.
