Lando Norris Edges Out Piastri in Sao Paulo Practice
Lando Norris has outscored his teammate at all of the previous five race weekends.
The McLaren driver edged out fellow driver and title rival the Australian for the quickest lap in the dying seconds of practice at the Sao Paulo Grand Prix.
Norris, who grabbed the title advantage from his teammate by just one point after his victory in the Mexican Grand Prix two weeks ago, outpaced the Australian by a mere 0.023s.
Before then, Piastri had been the quickest of the McLaren pair throughout the hour before sprint qualifying scheduled for 6:30 PM GMT.
Max Verstappen, the only other driver in the points battle, trailing 36 points behind behind Norris, finished in 17th place as his team followed a alternative strategy.
Verstappen's team-mate Yuki Tsunoda was the only driver to go off, though minor, when he spun at corner four early in the session.
The Japanese slid over the track edges before sliding over the run-off area, and was lucky to avoid just a light touch of the wall.
Ferrari's the seven-time champion also had a spin, at the final moments of the session, turning around through the fast downhill Mergulho turn before the last turn on to the start-finish straight.
Hamilton finished practice in P19, one place behind teammate Charles Leclerc.
Norris and Piastri were far ahead of the other competitors, with the German's car in third, 0.619secs slower than Piastri's best.
The Aston Martin of Fernando Alonso was fourth fastest, with Sauber's Gabriel Bortoleto fifth from Mercedes' George Russell and Alpine's Gasly and Williams' Sainz.
