Lando Norris Tops Oscar Piastri in Brazilian Practice Session
Lando Norris has beaten Oscar Piastri at all of the past five race weekends.
The McLaren driver edged out fellow driver and championship contender Oscar Piastri for the top spot in the final moments of practice at the Sao Paulo Grand Prix.
The British racer, who grabbed the championship lead from Piastri by just one point after taking the win in Mexico City a fortnight back, beat the Australian by a tiny margin of 0.023secs.
Before then, Piastri had been the quickest of the McLaren pair during the running before the sprint shootout scheduled for 6:30 PM GMT.
Max Verstappen, the other racer in the championship fight, sitting 36 points Norris, ended up in P17 as his Red Bull team ran a unique setup.
His teammate Yuki Tsunoda was the sole competitor to have an incident, if briefly, when he lost control at the fourth corner during the early running.
The Japanese spun out over the exit kerbs before spinning across the escape zone, and was fortunate to get away with just a slight brush of the barrier.
The Ferrari of the seven-time champion also spun, at the final moments of the session, turning around through the fast downhill Mergulho turn before the final bend on to the main straight.
Hamilton finished practice in 19th, one place behind teammate Charles Leclerc.
The McLaren drivers were significantly quicker of the other competitors, with Nico Hulkenberg's car P3, 0.619 seconds off Piastri's best.
Aston Martin's the Spanish driver was in fourth, with Sauber's Bortoleto ahead of the Mercedes of George Russell and Alpine's Gasly and the Williams of Carlos Sainz.