Norris Leads Piastri in Sao Paulo Practice
Lando Norris has beaten his teammate at each of the last five grands prix.
Lando Norris just pipped fellow driver and championship contender the Australian for the top spot in the closing stages of practice at the Sao Paulo Grand Prix.
Norris, who took the points lead from his teammate by just one point after his victory in Mexico City a fortnight back, beat the Australian by a tiny margin of 0.023secs.
Until that point, Oscar Piastri had been the quickest of the McLaren pair for most of the session before sprint qualifying due at 18:30 GMT.
Max Verstappen, the sole remaining contender in realistic title contention, sitting with a 36-point deficit Norris, was classified in P17 as his team followed a different programme.
His teammate Yuki Tsunoda was the sole competitor to go off, if briefly, when he spun at the fourth corner early in the session.
Tsunoda spun out over the track edges before spinning across the gravel trap, and was fortunate to get away with just a light touch of the fence.
The Ferrari of the seven-time champion also lost it, at the very end of the practice, spinning around through the high-speed corner leading to the final bend on to the pit straight.
Hamilton wrapped up in 19th, trailing team-mate Charles Leclerc.
Norris and Piastri were far ahead of the remaining drivers, with the German's Sauber in third, over half a second behind Piastri's best.
Aston Martin's Fernando Alonso was fourth quickest, with the Sauber of Gabriel Bortoleto in front of Mercedes' Russell and the Alpine of Pierre Gasly and the Williams of Carlos Sainz.
