Norris Leads Piastri in Sao Paulo Practice Session
Lando Norris has outperformed Oscar Piastri at all of the past five grands prix.
Lando Norris narrowly beat team-mate and title rival the Australian for the quickest lap in the dying seconds of the practice session at the Brazilian Grand Prix.
Norris, who grabbed the points lead from his teammate by one point after winning in the Mexican Grand Prix two weeks ago, outpaced the Melbourne-born driver by a mere 0.023s.
Earlier in the session, Piastri had been the quickest of the McLaren pair during the running before sprint qualifying due at 6:30 PM GMT.
The Red Bull star, the other racer in the championship fight, trailing with a 36-point deficit behind Norris, finished in 17th place as his Red Bull team ran a alternative strategy.
His teammate the Japanese driver was the sole competitor to have an incident, albeit lightly, when he rotated at Turn Four early in the session.
The Japanese slid over the curbs on exit before rotating through the escape zone, and was fortunate to escape with just a light touch of the barrier.
The Ferrari of the seven-time champion also had a spin, at the very end of the practice, spinning around through the quick descending Mergulho corner leading to the last turn on to the pit straight.
Hamilton finished practice in 19th, just behind teammate Charles Leclerc.
Norris and Piastri were far ahead of the other competitors, with the German's Sauber third fastest, 0.619secs behind Piastri's best.
The Aston Martin of Fernando Alonso was fourth fastest, with the Sauber of Gabriel Bortoleto fifth from Mercedes' George Russell and Alpine's Pierre Gasly and Williams' Sainz.
