Norris Leads Piastri in Brazilian Practice
Lando Norris has outscored Oscar Piastri at all of the last five grands prix.
The McLaren driver narrowly beat team-mate and title rival Oscar Piastri for the top spot in the dying seconds of the practice session at the Brazilian Grand Prix.
The British racer, who seized the points lead from Piastri by a single point after taking the win in the Mexican Grand Prix two weeks ago, outpaced the Melbourne-born driver by 0.023 seconds.
Earlier in the session, Oscar Piastri had been the fastest McLaren driver during the running before sprint qualifying set to begin at 6:30 PM GMT.
The Red Bull star, the sole remaining contender in the championship fight, trailing 36 points behind behind Norris, finished in 17th place as his Red Bull team opted for a alternative strategy.
His teammate the Japanese driver was the sole competitor to have an incident, though minor, when he spun at the fourth corner early in the session.
The Japanese slid over the track edges before rotating through the gravel trap, and was fortunate to get away with just a light touch of the fence.
The Ferrari of the seven-time champion also spun, at the conclusion of the session, spinning around through the quick descending corner approaching the final bend on to the pit straight.
Hamilton wrapped up in 19th, trailing team-mate Charles Leclerc.
The McLaren pair were well clear of the other competitors, with Nico Hulkenberg's Sauber in third, 0.619secs off the Australian's time.
Aston Martin's Fernando Alonso was in fourth, with Sauber's Bortoleto fifth from the Mercedes of Russell and the Alpine of Gasly and Williams' Carlos Sainz.
