Lando Norris Edges Out Piastri in Brazilian Practice
Lando Norris has beaten his teammate at each of the last five grands prix.
Lando Norris narrowly beat fellow driver and title rival Oscar Piastri for the fastest time in the closing stages of the practice session at the Brazilian Grand Prix.
The British racer, who grabbed the championship lead from Piastri by just one point after winning in the Mexican Grand Prix recently, topped the Australian by a mere 0.023s.
Earlier in the session, Piastri had been the quickest of the McLaren pair during the running before sprint qualifying set to begin at 18:30 GMT.
Max Verstappen, the other racer in the championship fight, lying 36 points behind Norris, was classified in 17th position as his team ran a alternative strategy.
Verstappen's team-mate the Japanese driver was the only driver to have an incident, if briefly, when he rotated at corner four soon after starting.
The Japanese spun out over the exit kerbs before rotating through the run-off area, and was blessed to avoid just a light touch of the wall.
Ferrari's the seven-time champion also had a spin, at the very end of the practice, rotating twice through the high-speed Mergulho turn before the last turn on to the pit straight.
Hamilton finished practice in 19th place, trailing team-mate Charles Leclerc.
The McLaren drivers were significantly quicker of the remaining drivers, with the German's Sauber third fastest, over half a second off Piastri's pace.
Aston Martin's the Spanish driver was in fourth, with the Sauber of Gabriel Bortoleto in front of the Mercedes of Russell and Alpine's Pierre Gasly and Williams' Carlos Sainz.