Norris Tops Piastri in Sao Paulo Practice
Lando Norris has outperformed Oscar Piastri at each of the last five race weekends.
Lando Norris edged out team-mate and title rival the Australian for the top spot in the closing stages of the practice session at the Brazilian Grand Prix.
The British racer, who took the points lead from his teammate by one point after taking the win in the Mexican Grand Prix a fortnight back, outpaced the Australian by 0.023 seconds.
Before then, Piastri had been the fastest McLaren driver during the running before the sprint shootout scheduled for 6:30 PM GMT.
Max Verstappen, the only other driver in the championship fight, sitting with a 36-point deficit Norris, finished in 17th position as his team followed a different programme.
Verstappen's team-mate Yuki Tsunoda was the sole competitor to go off, though minor, when he lost control at corner four during the early running.
Tsunoda slid over the curbs on exit before rotating through the run-off area, and was blessed to avoid just a minor contact of the wall.
The Ferrari of the seven-time champion also had a spin, at the conclusion of the session, turning around through the high-speed Mergulho corner leading to the final bend on to the start-finish straight.
Hamilton ended the session in 19th, one place behind teammate the Monegasque driver.
The McLaren drivers were well clear of the rest of the field, with the German's car P3, over half a second slower than Piastri's pace.
The Aston Martin of Fernando Alonso was fourth fastest, with the Sauber of Bortoleto fifth from the Mercedes of Russell and the Alpine of Pierre Gasly and Williams' Carlos Sainz.
