Norris Tops Piastri in Sao Paulo Practice Session
Lando Norris has outperformed his teammate at all of the last five grands prix.
Lando Norris narrowly beat team-mate and championship contender the Australian for the top spot in the final moments of practice at the Brazilian Grand Prix.
The British racer, who grabbed the championship lead from Piastri by one point after winning in Mexico City recently, outpaced the Melbourne-born driver by a mere 0.023s.
Before then, Oscar Piastri had been the fastest McLaren driver during the running before the sprint shootout scheduled for 18:30 GMT.
The Red Bull star, the only other driver in the championship fight, trailing with a 36-point deficit Norris, finished in 17th position as his Red Bull team opted for a unique setup.
His teammate Yuki Tsunoda was the only driver to go off, albeit lightly, when he lost control at Turn Four during the early running.
Tsunoda spun out over the track edges before rotating through the run-off area, and was fortunate to get away with just a slight brush of the fence.
Ferrari's the seven-time champion also spun, at the final moments of the session, rotating twice through the quick descending Mergulho corner approaching the final bend on to the pit straight.
Hamilton ended the session in P19, just behind teammate the Monegasque driver.
The McLaren pair were significantly quicker of the remaining drivers, with Nico Hulkenberg's Sauber in third, 0.619 seconds behind Piastri's best.
Aston Martin's Fernando Alonso was fourth fastest, with the Sauber of Bortoleto ahead of the Mercedes of George Russell and Alpine's Pierre Gasly and Williams' Sainz.
