Norris Leads Piastri in Sao Paulo Practice
Lando Norris has outscored his teammate at each of the past five race weekends.
The McLaren driver narrowly beat fellow driver and title rival the Australian for the fastest time in the final moments of the practice session at the Brazilian Grand Prix.
Norris, who grabbed the points lead from Piastri by just one point after his victory in the Mexican Grand Prix recently, topped the Australian by 0.023 seconds.
Earlier in the session, Piastri had been the fastest McLaren driver for most of the session before sprint qualifying scheduled for 6:30 PM GMT.
The Red Bull star, the other racer in the championship fight, sitting 36 points behind behind Norris, was classified in P17 as his team followed a alternative strategy.
His teammate the Japanese driver was the sole competitor to go off, if briefly, when he rotated at Turn Four during the early running.
The Japanese lost control over the curbs on exit before rotating through the escape zone, and was lucky to avoid just a slight brush of the barrier.
The Ferrari of the seven-time champion also had a spin, at the very end of the practice, rotating twice through the high-speed Mergulho corner before the final bend on to the start-finish straight.
Hamilton finished practice in 19th, one place behind teammate the Monegasque driver.
The McLaren drivers were far ahead of the remaining drivers, with Nico Hulkenberg's car third fastest, over half a second behind Piastri's best.
The Aston Martin of Fernando Alonso was fourth quickest, with Sauber's Bortoleto fifth from the Mercedes of George Russell and Alpine's Gasly and the Williams of Carlos Sainz.
