Norris Leads Oscar Piastri in Sao Paulo Practice
Lando Norris has outperformed his teammate at all of the past five grands prix.
The McLaren driver just pipped fellow driver and title rival Oscar Piastri for the fastest time in the final moments of the practice session at the Brazilian Grand Prix.
Norris, who took the championship lead from his teammate by one point after his victory in Mexico City two weeks ago, topped the Melbourne-born driver by a tiny margin of 0.023secs.
Until that point, Oscar Piastri had been the leading McLaren for most of the session before the sprint shootout due at 6:30 PM GMT.
Max Verstappen, the sole remaining contender in the championship fight, lying 36 points Norris, was classified in 17th place as his Red Bull team followed a unique setup.
Verstappen's team-mate Yuki Tsunoda was the sole competitor to go off, though minor, when he lost control at corner four early in the session.
Tsunoda slid over the exit kerbs before sliding over the escape zone, and was lucky to get away with just a minor contact of the wall.
The Ferrari of the seven-time champion also spun, at the very end of the session, spinning around through the high-speed Mergulho turn approaching the final corner on to the start-finish straight.
Hamilton finished practice in 19th place, trailing teammate Charles Leclerc.
The McLaren pair were well clear of the rest of the field, with Nico Hulkenberg's Sauber P3, 0.619secs off Piastri's best.
Aston Martin's Fernando Alonso was in fourth, with Sauber's Bortoleto in front of Mercedes' George Russell and the Alpine of Pierre Gasly and Williams' Sainz.
