Lando Norris Leads Piastri in Brazilian Practice
Lando Norris has outperformed his teammate at each of the previous five grands prix.
The McLaren driver edged out team-mate and championship contender Oscar Piastri for the top spot in the closing stages of practice at the Brazilian Grand Prix.
The British racer, who seized the championship lead from his teammate by one point after his victory in the Mexican Grand Prix two weeks ago, topped the Melbourne-born driver by a tiny margin of 0.023secs.
Before then, Oscar Piastri had been the leading McLaren throughout the hour before the sprint shootout due at 6:30 PM GMT.
Max Verstappen, the only other driver in the championship fight, sitting 36 points Norris, ended up in 17th place as his team followed a different programme.
His teammate the Japanese driver was the only driver to crash, albeit lightly, when he lost control at corner four soon after starting.
The Japanese lost control over the exit kerbs before rotating through the run-off area, and was lucky to avoid just a light touch of the fence.
Ferrari's the seven-time champion also had a spin, at the final moments of the practice, spinning around through the fast downhill Mergulho turn leading to the last turn on to the start-finish straight.
Hamilton wrapped up in 19th place, trailing teammate Charles Leclerc.
The McLaren drivers were significantly quicker of the remaining drivers, with the German's car P3, 0.619secs slower than Piastri's best.
The Aston Martin of the Spanish driver was fourth quickest, with the Sauber of Gabriel Bortoleto in front of the Mercedes of Russell and Alpine's Pierre Gasly and the Williams of Sainz.