Lando Norris Tops Oscar Piastri in Sao Paulo Practice Session
The British driver has outscored his teammate at each of the previous five race weekends.
Lando Norris just pipped team-mate and title rival Oscar Piastri for the quickest lap in the dying seconds of the practice session at the Brazilian Grand Prix.
Norris, who took the points lead from Piastri by a single point after winning in Mexico City two weeks ago, outpaced the Australian by a mere 0.023s.
Until that point, Oscar Piastri had been the leading McLaren for most of the session before the sprint shootout scheduled for 6:30 PM GMT.
Max Verstappen, the sole remaining contender in the points battle, lying 36 points behind Norris, was classified in P17 as his team opted for a unique setup.
Verstappen's team-mate Yuki Tsunoda was the sole competitor to have an incident, though minor, when he rotated at the fourth corner soon after starting.
The Japanese spun out over the track edges before sliding over the gravel trap, and was lucky to escape with just a minor contact of the barrier.
Ferrari's the seven-time champion also spun, at the very end of the practice, rotating twice through the fast downhill Mergulho corner approaching the final corner on to the pit straight.
Hamilton wrapped up in 19th place, trailing team-mate the Monegasque driver.
Norris and Piastri were well clear of the remaining drivers, with the German's Sauber P3, 0.619secs slower than Piastri's pace.
The Aston Martin of Fernando Alonso was in fourth, with Sauber's Bortoleto fifth from Mercedes' George Russell and Alpine's Gasly and Williams' Sainz.
