Norris Edges Out Piastri in Sao Paulo Practice
Lando Norris has beaten Oscar Piastri at all of the previous five grands prix.
The McLaren driver narrowly beat fellow driver and title rival the Australian for the fastest time in the dying seconds of practice at the Sao Paulo Grand Prix.
The British racer, who seized the championship lead from his teammate by a single point after winning in the Mexican Grand Prix a fortnight back, beat the Melbourne-born driver by 0.023 seconds.
Before then, Piastri had been the fastest McLaren driver during the running before the sprint shootout scheduled for the evening session.
Max Verstappen, the other racer in the championship fight, lying with a 36-point deficit behind Norris, finished in P17 as his team followed a alternative strategy.
His teammate the Japanese driver was the sole competitor to have an incident, albeit lightly, when he spun at the fourth corner soon after starting.
The Japanese lost control over the curbs on exit before sliding over the escape zone, and was blessed to escape with 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 fast downhill Mergulho corner approaching the final corner on to the main straight.
Hamilton ended the session in 19th place, just behind team-mate Charles Leclerc.
The McLaren pair were significantly quicker of the other competitors, with the German's car in third, over half a second behind the Australian's time.
The Aston Martin of Fernando Alonso was fourth quickest, with the Sauber of Bortoleto in front of the Mercedes of George Russell and Alpine's Pierre Gasly and the Williams of Carlos Sainz.
